The Black Hand of Ulfric Stormcloak
by JulieisaBean
Summary: 20 years prior the events of Skyrim, Ulfric Stormcloak, the Jarl of Windhelm, has his sword stolen by a Dark Brotherhood assassin after a failed attempt at killing him. Now Ulfric must find the murderer, and trail down his sword with them, along with dodging the obstacles the dangerous land of Skyrim has to offer.
1. Intro

Growing up in Windhelm was never easy for Ulfric Stormcloak. At the very young age of seven years his mother was taken from him by illness, and due to his father's high roll as Jarl, Ulfric was normally left in solitude by himself. He never bothered to play with the other children, or push his way next to his father's side. Instead he trained by himself, nothing was more forced in Skyrim than war. Ulfric's number one desire was to appease his father with honoring him. He dreamed of being a grown man, standing next to his father as a housecarl, fighting in wars on foreign lands for Skyrim. Every thought made him more determined to train. Though training is never useful without a teacher. Ulfric had no one to teach him, he needed someone with a stained blade to assist him, someone who was actually willing. Since Ulfric is the son of the Jarl of Windhelm he knew it wouldn't be hard to find a specialized fighter. But Ulfric was a kind boy, the last thing he wanted was to impose.

That was when he met a young soldier named Galmar Stone-Fist. Galmar told Ulfric he had fought for Skyrim since he was the same age as him. And now at the age of 18 he told Ulfric he had seen too many red fields in his day, and his training would be most impeccable to the young boy's taste.  
"It would be a privilege to train the Jarl's son. More than a privilege... an honor." said Galmar with a humble smile. No matter his age, he treated Ulfric with utmost respect. Not because of his place in society, but because he saw great passion for his homeland in Ulfric's eyes. A great purpose for Skyrim, and not helping him could limit their great province. He obliged to assist Ulfric, and through many years they commenced in training. His understanding of battle increased with every swing of the sword or every block of the shield. Galmar was indeed a great help to Ulfric, but something still itched inside Ulfric. A power he hadn't tapped yet, or even felt. Yet it still burned inside him.  
On his 12th birthday Ulfric received a letter from a courier on his way to the Palace of Kings. The letter was from non-other than the Greybeards, excitement and curiosity engulfed Ulfric's every emotion as he read the letter. It said in perfect handwritten ink,

_Ulfric Stormcloak,_

We have received intelligence of your where-abouts and training.  
But most importantly we know who you are.  
The power within you is no doubt strong, and dormant.  
With us you could use and control these abilities.  
We implore you to come to our sanctuary in High Hrothgar.  
We have assigned a carriage for you once you get this letter.  
Your father mustn't worry, for we will bring you back to Windhelm,  
this is confidential.  
Discuss it over in your mind briefly,  
for the carriage will not be their forever.  
Your training starts immediately once you arrive.

The Greybeards

Ulfric was more than ecstatic to go, but lying to his father was a different matter. His father was never keen of lying, or any evil deed of any kind, you could find much righteousness in the man's blue eyes. But this chance was an evolution in his life. Ulfric may have been isolated from most of society but he was no fool. He knew much of the Greybeards, Dragons and the Thu'um. The Greybeards are a very hermit like group. Never leaving, never sending out for others. Sending out for himself was... abnormal... and curious. He yearned to find out his power from the Greybeards, and this was an opportunity. Ulfric then made his mind up, and made his way to the carriage waiting for him.  
"Get on in, boy! I ain't got all day." yelled the coach. Ulfric climbed into the back of the carriage and settled himself down on the wood.  
"Got anything warmer than that baby coat?" questioned the coach stretching his head as far as he could to Ulfric.  
"This will suffice." muttered Ulfric. Ulfric was never a boy to talk much, he was a very shy child, and liked to be silent. The coach then nodded,  
"If you think so. It's gonna get cold up there... hope ya ready."

It was indeed a long journey to the sanctuary, many hours wasted. No doubt his father was worrying about him by now. The dagger sharp snow and the blistering wind made it hard for him to open his eyes. Finally they reached their destination, Ulfric went in keeping his wits about him. He was not sure what to make of the Greybeards, trust... he was not easily going to give. However respect, yes, from what he hears of them, they deserve more than just a simple handshake.  
The air in High Hrothgar was chilled and dry, it was hard to breathe in. He then met a man named Argneir, this man was to be Ulfric's mentor whilst in the Greybeards teachings, Ulfric was his apprentice. Argnier told Ulfric of his ability with the Thu'um, and that someday Ulfric will grow to be one of the most important men in Skyrim. And as this day passed not many others seemed to be held at the Greybeard sanctuary, for many of Ulfric's teen years he spent practicing the Thu'um. That ofcourse... was when the Great War started.  
Ulfric grew tired of hiding from the fight, and disgracing the cause he wanted, so he left the Greybeards with the information he'd gathered. Ulfric was known to be one of the most youngest of soldiers in Skyrim. He was only 18 when he joined the fight, and he did not lack any abilities that the other soldiers possessed. Through years,Ulfric finally earned the respect from his father he deserved. Ulfric was a young warrior in the Empire army, friends with many warriors in the Empire as well... until he was captured by the Thalmor.  
Ulfric was no older than 21 when he was captured. He was interrogated by non other, than an elf, the Aldermi Dominion. This was the moment Ulfric's hatred for all Elven kind was given birth. Having to go through torture, and the twisted mind of a Thalmor cutting and swaying through him changed Ulfric forever. And the information given to him about the empire... only made it worse. Ulfric began to realize it was the Imperials who had started this war, and once the war was over the Thalmor and the Empire became alliances, however it was clear in Ulfric's mind that the Imperials were just puppets to the elves.  
As time rotted away in his prison, he was finally let loose by the Thalmor and left astray in a forest far off from home. He was determined to die in that forest, wounds open and weakness keeping him from walking. If it wasn't for a 5 year old village boy who had happened to find him, surely Ulfric's name would be just a blur in most nord's.  
"By the gods, mister!" the young child ran to tend to the injured man. The boy ripped off some cloth from his robes and tied them to Ulfric's wounds. Ulfric could only breathe out,  
"Tha..Thank yo.."  
"Don't speak." the boy added, "The injured should never speak till their good and healthy again." Ulfric despite his pain smiled. He looked up at the child, who seemed fixated on Ulfric's cuts.  
"I'll go get pappa, he's not too far..." before the boy could bolt up and run for his father, Ulfric grabbed his arm. The act of this alerted the young one.  
"Wait... what is your name, child?" Ulfric asked, his voice hoarse.  
"Um... I'm Ralof... of Riverwood." Ulfric smiled once more, the boy gave off a similar demeanor he gave when he was his age.  
"Hello Ralof, I'm Ulfric Stormcloak... yo..you're going to be a great man someday... I can t-tell." with that Ulfric let go of his arm and rested himself on the leaves, breathing slowly. Ralof grinned and then ran to Riverwood which sat not to far from Ulfric.  
Ulfric then awoke to the familiar feel of a soft bed and food. He thought he would never feel it again.  
"He's waking." said a muffled voice, as things still seemed a bit hazy from waking up. Ulfric opened his eyes and jolted at a sight of a simpleton middle aged man tending to him.  
"Woah! Calm down! You're alright you're safe." chuckled the man.  
"Where am I?!" questioned Ulfric.  
"Is he going to be alright, Pa! Is he!" squealed Ralof, clenching his hands on his fathers shirt, tears in his panicked eyes.  
"Yes, he'll be fine." responded the man,  
"Riverwood, I'm Gabbot, this is my son, Ralof, and my daughter Gerdur. If my son hadn't wondered off you may as well be dead. My wife, Militrida, is gettin' you clean clothes to wear and food. Now if you mind tellin' me where you're from and who you are..." Ulfric looked back and forth from Ralof to Gabbot, trying to refresh his mind,  
"I'm Ulfric... Stormcloak. I'm from Windhelm." Gabbot then gasped,  
"You're the Jarl's boy! Well good to know I'm harborin' a leaders offspring in my house. Well if you're from Windhelm what are you doin' in Riverwood?"  
"I'm an imperial soldier... WAS... an imperial soldier. I no longer take honor to that title. Not from what I learned of them. I was held captive from the Aldermi Dominion and tortured. They must have dumped me here."  
"How old are you? You look no older than that milk drinkin' stable boy down by the river?" Ulfric tried to remember his age... for he was only in the prison for 6 or 7 months. But he no doubt missed a birthday.  
"I believe... I'm 21... or 22... I really don't know." Gabbot let out a deep sigh of thought...  
"Huh... you're just a baby... what's a kid like you doin' in the war?" Before Ulfric could return an answer, in walked Gabbot's wife, she set fresh bread and robes down beside him.  
"You eat. You need it." she ordered to Ulfric. She then returned back to her busy job at the store, for Militrida was a shop owner, a very busy shop owner.  
"Well I should leave ya. I gotta get back to choppin' wood." stated Gabbot as he stretched himself up from his seat. Doing so he kneeled down in front of Ralof with one hand on a shoulder.  
"Now m' boy. You're gonna stay here with this man, alright? He's your responsibility for finding him. You're gonna take care of em'. This is your duty. Right?"  
"Yes, Pa." smiled Ralof. Ralof was thrilled to keep care of Ulfric, never had Ralof been given such a big challenge... however upon meeting Ulfric Stormcloak he was soon to be given the greatest challenge of his life. Ulfric looked upon the relationship they had. _Father and Son._ He envied Ralof, for his child hood must have been filled with much lighter days.  
"You hear that, Mister! You can count on me." Ralof squicked, his voice joyful and childish.  
"Should I be scared?" stated Ulfric.  
"Why does Ralof get to keep care of him!" screamed Gerdur.  
"Because, sweetie. Ralof found him, it's his responsibility." confirmed Gabbot. Gerdur stormed out of the house pouty and sassy. Being a young girl can come with side affects.  
"Gerdur! Gerdur!" Gabbot chased after her immediately. Ralof rolled his eyes as he cut Ulfric'c bread,  
"Wow, girls are so weird. I don't know why Pa even married one." Ulfric gave out a light giggle at the boy.  
"Someday you will find a girl, Ralof. And your thoughts will be differed."  
"No way!" Ralof yelped.  
"Oh come now, girls are not all so bad." Ulfric spoke from experience, he found many fair ones on his adventures.  
"Well there's this one girl... but she's kinda older than me..." muttered Ralof blushing.  
"How old?"  
"By 9 years." Ulfric then gasped,  
"Oh! Well then, I'm sure you should re-evaluate that..."

After a time of mending, Ulfric finally healed, and he felt it was more then good to leave Gabbot's hut and venture to Windhelm. He had much to tell his father of the Imperial's alliance with the elves. The very idea of the elves and the imperials taking control of Skyrim made his skin crawl. He said his goodbyes to the honest folk of Riverwood. Ralof saying goodbye to Ulfric was like giving away a puppy you had fed and cared for and watched age, Ralof's tears rolled down his cheeks,  
"Don't cry, Ralof. Crying is a sign of weakness. And you're a warrior." smiled Ulfric as he knelt down to his level.  
"Will...will I ever see you again?" sniffed Ralof. Ulfric took a moment to look at Ralof,  
"Sooner than you think... and if not, I'm sure our ways will inter-twine in Sovengarde. When you are a grown man." they then embraced in a hug, for Ralof was the first REAL friend Ulfric had ever had. A friend he could count on in war. Ulfric gave his last farewell to Riverwood, and was off. Leaving behind destitute families and a kid with a broken heart made him weary. He traveled many nights with that thought branded in his head. He caught a lift by a passing carriage to Windhelm and by the time he arrived... he arrived to discover the death of his father.  
His father was murdered by the Thalmor, and with that act Ulfric's anger had reached its limits. Over his father's body he let out tears he promised to never reveal. His father, being the only thing he had left was taken from him. He was now alone in this world. No matter how many soldiers who served him he could never fill in the dark gap eating him away. Nights later in Ulfric's chamber, he received a visit from Galmar.  
"Lord Ulfric, you're the only heir. I hate to interrupt your grieving but... are you willing to commence to Jarl?" spoke Galmar softly. Ulfric let two degrading tears fall from his face, and then responded,  
"I am willing to do whatever my father would want me to do... I shall become Jarl. And my work will begin. To free Skyrim. You know of what I told you..."  
"Yes, ofcour..."  
"You'll stand by me?" interrupted Ulfric.  
"Till the end." bowed Galmar.  
"Then lets get started... Skyrim is ours. Nord land shall free itself from Imperial shackles. The liberation hasn't even begun."


	2. Lady In Black

"My lord, the new Jarl should be out there with his people. Not in here wasting away in front of that map. This is your coronation after all." advised Galmar Stone-Fist. Ulfric Stormcloak the new Jarl of Windhelm kept gazing at his map; ignoring Galmar's implores and ignoring the obnoxious laughing, cheering and music upstairs. Ulfric let out a groan,

"I told you we didn't need one, Galmar. We can celebrate when we over throw the imperials. First, we start with Torygg."

"Ulfric, you're the youngest Jarl known to Skyrim. The people will need convincing.."

"I don't need that right now.",snapped Ulfric "My election as Jarl is a step closer to our plans. Skyrim is oppressed by the Empire and wish only for one thing. An uprising. Banning the worship of Talos lit their flame, and soon the fire will spread into a war for Skyrim. And soon I shall grant their wishes. The minute Torygg is dead, we can start our rebellion."

"Another war..." muttered Galmar grimly. Ulfric returned a look to Galmar. The look reflected much aggravation and... curiosity. A look he never gave Galmar before. How could Galmar doubt the war now that Skyrim was in such an oppression? Galmar starred intently at Ulfric in return hoping for him to speak to break the ever suspenseful silence.

"... I know... you don't need it right now." sighed Galmar. He then left to accompany Ulfric's subjects in his stead, and left Ulfric to his thoughts. Ever since his fathers death, his only source of family was Galmar. His mother now rested in Sovengarde with his father, and the young boy he met in Riverwood named Ralof a year ago had probably forgotten him. Ulfric was now truly alone. If it hadn't been for Galmar, Ulfric would have just charged into Solitude and killed Torygg where he stood. _"Traitor",_ he thought to himself. Only a coward would betray his own country, let alone his own race. Skyrim was not what it used to be, and Ulfric knew that now. He was determined to turn things to normal and save the Nords of Skyrim even if death challenges him. There was nothing more passionate to him, besides family which was stolen away from him by the Thalmor.

Ulfric had to face something everyone feared, something everyone should fear; loneliness. He had to deal with the death of his father, the memories of torture by the elves and to top it off the rebellion he was soon to rise. The Jarl had lived his life by himself. Tending for himself since he was only 5, cooking his own meals, not having a father to tuck him in or tell him a grand story of one of his various adventures. Ulfric could feel the hot tears slowly well up under his eyes. He didn't close his eyes to let them fall, instead he stared at that map...planning, and loathing himself. He let out a deep breath; exhaling out a heavy amount of warm air and then inhaling sharply. It hurt his throat, and ached his heart. He fought his tears with every inch of self-respect he still had, and used it against his pain. No matter how much he tried the truth seemed to still claw at him. _He was truly alone._

That night Ulfric did nothing more but study and plan his liberation. Now that Windhelm was under his command he could fight with more than one sword, and soon his cause will be spread across Skyrim and so his rebellion will grow, and over throw the Empire. Not a sound was heard after the celebration concluded. I few visitors tried to congratulate him, but then was shewed away by his guards. The moon was its highest at that point of night. Everyone in the kingdom was sleeping; except Ulfric. Suddenly breaking the silence a Windhelm guard nearly broke down the door to alert Ulfric,

"Sir! A spy is lurking near Windhelm!" Ulfric looked at the panicked guard with an interrupted expression.

"We fear it's the Thalmor." he continued.

"What would the elves want with Windhelm?" Ulfric questioned now totally removing his focus from the map.

"Acknowledging the concept they murdered your father, I'm sure they would extend to murder his son. The defiler was seen sneaking near the trees of Windhelm; like it had a job to do. Due to suspicion and our post to protect you, were taking you away from your palace to keep you safe."

"Let them come. I'm not a feeble old Jarl like my father. If they wish to kill me they shall bring the fight to me." Ulfric said rather dis tempered. "Just take ease for now. If he shall attack, I'm sure I can handle it. Now go back to your post soldier." the guard took his leave immediately. Not wanting to disrespect his Jarl. Ulfric looked out his tinted window to the icy scenery of Windhelm. He knew the guard was right, but elves never normally sneak.. for they are far more cunning and associated with magic. Unless this was an assassination. Now that they are the superiors of the puppy dog Imperials why would they wish to implant a murder of another Jarl? Hiding a killing from the public is their only option now. This time however, Ulfric was ready.

It wasn't until night was approaching dawn that Ulfric sensed a dark presence in his palace, and a thump of a bumped artifact in his hall. Alarmed, he grabbed his sword in which was passed down from generations and fled to his hall to investigate the sound. All that lay in front of him was an empty throne, a table full of plentiful food and a dying fire place. The hall was empty... not even a guard. He lowered his sword and searched thoroughly for a hiding assassin, a dead body,even a fallen sweet roll, but he couldn't find anything. The place seemed too... empty... it kept Ulfric on edge.

Suddenly another object fell clunking on the ground causing a clanking sound throughout where he stood. The eruption caused him to drop his sword; he could feel the rich metal of the blade rattle on the floor. Then... silence. The object that had fell was a wine cup in his stewards room. However the steward was not there to hear it, for he was in Whiterun for official business. That moment Ulfric knew this was a set up and something was in the palace playing games with him. No assassin or Thalmor would be stupid enough to knock over two objects unless they were trying to be caught. Ulfric reached down to retrieve his sword. Instead he felt nothing but the cold marble floor. he briefly looked around him to find his idyllic blade but it was no where in sight. His sword was gone.

"Looking for this?" questioned a conniving feminine tone. Ulfric followed the voice like the speed of light. It was no man or elf, but a woman. She sat quite abundantly on an eagle head statue near his chambers. Her face was cloaked with a black cowl only revealing her leaf green eyes, and his sword in her skillfully agile hands. She flaunted it in front of him; it sparkled off the lit flames around the hall. She let out a deceiving chuckle and lowered the beautiful blade. Ulfric could recognize that black and red attire anywhere. _The Dark Brotherhood._

He had only heard stories of the Dark Brotherhood when he was little. His father used to say they didn't kill for sheer pleasure or revenge, but the gold that would be handed to them at the end of each day, and the gold was always more than the common could afford. No one dared to hunt them down or send out warrants. They were a very confidential group and were entitled with dark magic. It was best to keep your distance from them, and just let them do their job. Ulfric assumed he would never see one. Until however he encountered a dead argonian member outside of Rorikstead during the Great War. He must have got his kill, but the guards were just too fast for the murderer. They were Tamriel's most skilled assassins. It was clear that if someone sent a Dark Brotherhood member to kill Ulfric someone really wanted him dead.

"It is an honor... Jarl." said the astute assassin.

"Give me my sword.",commanded Ulfric "Or I'll have no choice but to kill you."

"On the contrary, I'll be the one committing the murder." she then easily kicked her self off the 10 feet eagle only to land soundly on the floor. She held Ulfric's sword in her right hand.

"What a song it'll be, for the new Jarl of Windhelm to be killed by the Dark Brotherhood on his coronation night by... his own sword." she stepped closer to him, her hips moving seductively to every step she took.

"Would it be breaking the rules to tell me who payed you to kill me?" confronted Ulfric. She giggled lightly,

"..Of course." Ulfric backed away as she stepped closer. He distracted her with as many questions as he could so he could find a weapon.

"How about showing me the face of my killer? I really do pray you look as pretty as you sound."

"Flattery? Well you really know how to play. I'm sorry but... as my first important job I wish to see it through." she continued.

"How about your name?"

"Enough." Ulfric was no match for a Dark Brotherhood associate, until he heard "first important job" from her lips. The girl must have been a rookie, since important jobs are given to the Dark Brotherhoods all the time. Most contracts are normally all around Tamriel, its rare when one is "important" in Skyrim. If there was any chance of luck in defeating her, Ulfric was willing to take it. Ulfric then remembered an iron dagger in his fathers sheath kept near his throne always. A pig sticker right now, was the only option.

He then absconded to his throne and quickly clutched the dagger from its sheath. Before he could turn around to face her, the she-assassin had him by the shoulders and attempted to dig his sword into him from behind. Ulfric found an advantage in her efforts and grabbed the sword with his gloves. Unable to penetrate the skin due to his hide gloves he held tight to it. The assassin then ripped it from his hands and the sword cut through his gloves and his skin. A quick sharp burning sensation cut through his hand. He yelped for his sliced palm was now gushing blood. She attempted a swing with the blade. Ulfric having nothing to block with he used his dagger. His hand stung like fire as he used all his strength to block the thundering attack. Every force he tried to keep the sword from winning just made him weaker. The sword was indeed powerful, with out aid Ulfric would surely lose this battle.

As curiosity and surrender over came him, he reached his left arm over her head and ripped off her cowl. Ulfric only got a brief look of his murder's face. She was... a Nord. Her hair was golden yellow and hung down her shoulders. Her eyes were much greener than they were as her ivory skin illuminated them into beautiful green pearls. Her face was flawlessly shaped and gave off an enticing glow. If it wasn't for Ulfric's idea, he would have been dead by distraction.

Suddenly Ulfric's power came out in three simple words. Thinking he had forgotten it he some how managed the Thu'um.

"Fus..RO..DAH!" the power weighing against his dagger was released as the assassin went flying across the hall. She slammed on the hard floor, her body reacting like a rag doll.

"Agh!" she yelped. Ulfric's powerful voice must have awoken the whole of Windhelm. Attempting to crawl for the sword that had landed by her she let out numerous aches and cries. She held on tightly to her ribs which must have gotten the worst of the blow. The Thu'um didn't kill her, but it sure as hell hurt her. Ulfric stood dazed and bewildered that he actually used the Thu'um. It was the first time he used it on a real enemy. Noticing the assassin's efforts to retrieve the sword he made his way to her, quickening with every step.

"The..Thu'um... By Sithis... it cannot be." she maundered. Ulfric smiled at her flabbergasted eyes.

"You won't die just yet, cutthroat." he spoke. She let out some desperate coughs and glanced back into his eyes. No fear was shown in her, and no pain.

"I am no cutthroat." she choked out clutching her chest. Ulfric starred intently at her, waiting for words.

"I... am Astrid."

Before Ulfric could respond Galmar and various guards erupted through the great doors of the Palace of Kings. The red light of the dawn sun came blazing through the hall.

"Ulfric! We heard the shout. Are you..." Galmar stopped instantly when seeing the assassin before him.

"Dark Brotherhood..?" he muttered. Suddenly the assassin built up as much strength as she could, grabbed the ancient sword of Stormcloaks and flee'd through the guards. The she-nord was indeed very fast.

"My sword! Get her!" screamed Ulfric.

"Archers!" ordered Galmar. Ulfric panicked,

"No! Don't kill her!" the confusing orders and the speed of Astrid led them to find that she had escaped, with Ulfric's sword. The sword that had been his fathers favored weapon. Ulfric ran out to the morning mist and snow outside his warm palace,

"YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME, CUTTHROAT!" he shouted out to the town,"I WILL GET BACK WHAT'S RIGHTFULLY MINE!" Ulfric embraced defeat as the cold blistering morning air hit his face. His cheeks red and his eyes disappointed from failure.

"Don't kill her? Why?" asked Galmar, settling himself next to him.

"She knows something no one else does... I need her to tell me who sent her. And why."

"She was apart of the Dark Brotherhood, sire." stated Galmar.

"All the more reason to find her and tell me who payed."

"My point is... it's nearly going to be impossible to find her." No matter how much Ulfric wanted to deny it, Galmar was right.

"Send out parties. Scour the land for this girl. I want warrants out for her immediately! Gather the troops. I want my sword back in my hands and I want that girl interrogated as soon as possible!..."

"But sir! What do we have to rely on?" pleaded Galmar. Ulfric didn't know much but was willing to give all.

"Not much... we do know however a name and an occupation."

"Her name?" asked Galmar once again.

"...Astrid." snarled Ulfric. The name had a certain elegance to it. Something a pompous assassin would have.

"I'll go to find her as soon as I can. I know only a limited amount of people infiltrated with the Dark Brotherhood. Perhaps they know something of this "Astrid" and can give us reasonable answers."

"I'll go with you."

"No you will not, Galmar. I must do this on my own. The only way to defeat the Dark Brotherhood... is to act like one." stated Ulfric.

"You're only 24, Ulfric. You must need assistance!" cautioned Galmar.

"I can handle her... she's afraid of me. With fear she will express her weaknesses. Or she will surrender. Only me seeking her can tell." Ulfric didn't actually know what he could expect finding this assassin. He only wished for his sword back, and the one holding his contract. With those two reasons in his head he believed he could see this mission finished.

"Well..." Ulfric announced, "I suggest I shall begin packing for my journey."


	3. The Jarl and Blackhand in Chains

Ulfric was nearing the end of his patience. He had interrogated this old hag long enough and was beginning to feel she was useless to his cause.  
"Olava, I know you've been associated with the Dark Brotherhood since you were my age. Not to mention the countless meetings the townspeople have seen you with them. Now tell me... Where is Astrid?!" Olava flinched at the name being spit out of Ulfric's mouth. Olava was a local palm reader in Whiterun, not much famous with the honest folk who lived there. However with the shady folk, she held an appointment all the time.  
"She... she visited me." quacked Olava. Ulfric must have screamed and threatened the very life out of her for hours.

"When?" he growled, he leaned his face into hers. She sat in a chair, hands unbound but still stuck to the handles. She was petrified of Ulfric, his voice when angered made her hairs stand.

"3 days ago... she... talked of you. Told m-m-me that you would likely drop by... and that I should leave before you arrive." stuttered Olava, "S-such a lovely girl. Caring for those others safety... not like much cutthroats. S-S-Sithis will grant her a throne in the Void."

"Yes, what a sweetheart..." said Ulfric,"Stealing from Jarls. Not to mention murdering them." Olava kept silent, keeping her eyes distant from his.

"She's staying..." she mumbled.

"Yes..?"

"She's.. shes staying at an inn outside of Dawnstar. By-B-By herself. There will be no one there, if you wish to retrieve your sword, you go there. Now...please...leave me alone." Olava gasped with every word. Guilt and betrayal weighed on her heart. She had betrayed one of her closest friends.

"That's all I know. Now.. please."

"I believe you." assured Ulfric. He relieved Olava from leaning off her chair and heading for her door. Ulfric took a final glance at the traumatized woman, and went out her door to the city of Whiterun. Ulfric was never keen on frightening people. Although he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. Olava was not his first interrogation, for there was many before who just never gave up. Olava was the only one who was easily frightened... yet it didn't make Ulfric feel any better. How was he to know Astrid was still even there? Due to the damage she had done one would guess she would be well across Tamriel by now. Ulfric had to take a journey of faith, he had to seek out Astrid on his own and pray to Talos she was still there. Losing that sword was disgracing his fathers wishes. Whatever pain he may endure, he WOULD get that sword back. With that, Ulfric mounted his horse and made his way to Dawnstar. Dawnstar was going to be a long, cold and bumpy journey. Considering the mountains surrounding the town, and not to mention the numerous Ice Wraith's over populating the territory the journey would be... long indeed. He made haste on horse back, traveling maximum speed to the icy tundras of Dawnstar. Not many dangers were encountered, still his sword was unsheathed time from time. He killed maybe two or three wolves, and one small mudcrab. The journey was light and fast. Just the way Ulfric liked.

He was lucky enough to get to Dawnstar in 20 hours, the night was still young and the stars still blazing once he arrived. The chilly air of Dawnstar was only slight with a warm breeze and the snow no higher than 2 inches. It was nearing the end of First Seed,and the sky was lit up with beautiful multiple colored hist. Ulfric would have just sat down and enjoyed the beautiful midnight, if he didn't have such an important task. He unmounted his horse near the trees and gave his steed a pat on the muzzle. The town of Dawnstar was visible from his point of view.

As he neared the Inn he kept his gloved hand on the handle of his sword. Opening the door he smelt only hide and strong mead. Only one guest was residing, a simple drunkard. There was a pretty barmaid who happened to keep giving Ulfric sweet faces and the old owner of the Inn almost sleeping at the till. Even the bard was sleeping. The place was lifeless. Slowly it was certain Astrid was never even here. Having a visit from a Dark Brotherhood is not easily forgotten. He made his way to the upstairs room, and noticed a very familiar smell. It was the same aroma he had smelt the night Astrid's face was an inch away from his when he was blocking her blow from his sword. She was here. He knew it.  
He slowed his pace and slowly opened the first door and looked in. No one. Two more doors remained. He opened the second one, no one. Then lastly... the third one. _"She HAS to be in here."_ he thought to himself. Opening the door gingerly he unsheathed his sword. The door was opened enough to see a crack of the room, he took a final breathe then barged in. Expecting a young girl he saw only a drunk khajiit mage passed down on the floor. No assassin, no Astrid. Disappointment and stress engulfed him. Astrid was probably in Cyrodill by now, and chasing her all over Tamriel was something he was trying to avoid. Ulfric let out a sigh, he sheathed his sword and ambled out of the room.

The minute Ulfric turned the corner he received a blow to the chest from two booted feet swinging down from above. Astrid was there the whole time, on the corner of the ceiling of the hall watching him. Ulfric flew back to the wall; toppling over an end table. He let out aches trying to get up. Looking up he saw Astrid once again. She reached over and clutched the collar of his armor, and pulled him up immediately triumphing with a punch to the cheekbone. Ulfric's head felt as if it was going to fly off. His cheek burned like a scorching brand. She then hit him with another swing to the bottom of his lip. Blood surged from his split lip and a cut gum filled his mouth with a coppery flavor. Astrid hit fiercely, her very punches made Ulfric surrender. She then attempted to wrap a piece of fabric around his mouth to prevent him from shouting. Then, Ulfric kicked her back a few inches ripping off the cloth and finally unsheathed his sword. She came at him but Ulfric defended himself with a reckless swipe of the blade. It luckily only cut her slightly on the stomach. She fell to the ground in abdication, surrendering at his will.

"WAIT NO!" she screamed. Before he took any chances of her running away again, Ulfric pierced his sword on a loose piece of attire she was wearing. Astrid was bound to the spot that Ulfric had made her in.

"You're not running this time." he panted. The sword was just near her neck.

"You... actually found me." gasped Astrid, in terror. Ulfric let out a chuckle.

"Learn to never steal from a Stormcloak, thief. Or murderer. Or... whatever you are."

"Now tell me." he continued, "Where is my sword!". Astrid didn't answer, she only looked at him daunted, then bursted out in laughter.

"That's why you chased me here?!" she convulsed. Ulfric only got more aggravated.

"For some sword? Wow, I actually thought you were here to rip my lungs out. You sentimental war mongerers always..."

"Where is it!" interrupted Ulfric.

"Gone! I sold it to the highest bitter." provoked Astrid. Ulfric was in a state of doubt, he gritted his teeth and spat out.

"You conniving bitch!" he knelt down to her smug smile, "Who did you sell it to?"

"If I tell you you'll just kill me... no."

"I'll kill you if you don't tell me." added Ulfric. Ulfric then got a great idea, an epiphany that surely could not be ignored. He smiled eagerly,

"No..." he muttered, "You'll come with me."

"What? No!" she panicked.

"It's either that gesture, or you'll die. Lead me to the buyer, and I'll let you live and... let you go. Besides even if you did tell me... no doubt you'd be lying."

"You're making a deal with me?" she beamed. Ulfric glowered,

"Sadly..." she sat, deep in thought considering the very idea of teaming up with a Jarl.

"How... outrageous. Yet... intriguing. You know Ulfric... I know your plans."

"Plans?"

"To murder the High King." Ulfric eyes went analytically based.

"How do you know that?"

"Hmm... turns out you're contract holder was a REAL chatty one. He told me all about you to the last tee. Ohh-hmm... you were such a troubled child. Never got the love you really wanted from your father. I'm a sucker for sad childhoods. Oh but mostly, the important things. Your rebellion against the empire, your goal to kill Torygg. Everything. And my, my Ulfric. You have me aroused." she tittered lightly crossing her legs. There was amorous in her eyes.

"I have no need or time for your raunchiness." stated Ulfric. Astrid groaned,

"Hmm."

"Speaking of such. Who is this... contract holder." he asked.

"Hmmm... how about we see how far this... partnership goes, and I'll give you all the information you ask."

"And you won't runaway?" asked Ulfric.

"As Sithis as my witness" Ulfric looked deeply into Astrid's eyes. He saw much death and deceit... but there was truth. Astrid was sincere withhelping Ulfric.

"I.. can't believe I'm doing this." Ulfric then reluctantly pulled his sword from Astrid's cowl and held out a hand to help her up. She chuckled and clasped his hand, Ulfric pulled her up quickly relieving his hand when she had both feet planted. She made her way immediately down stairs

"Shall we, dear?" she smiled as she walked down the stairs. Ulfric immediately followed not wanting to lose her.

"Don't get to far ahead... you're my charge."

"You're the boss." Astrid pranced through the Inn waiting for Ulfric to keep up. Freedom was a luxury Astrid never normally got. The drunkard starred befuddled at the young assassin and the young Jarl.

"We make haste, I have a city to run." said Ulfric rather grimly, his hand on a sword handle and the other reaching for a flask of mead. He was certain his pride had shriveled now he was working with a cutthroat. If any of Ulfric's comrades heard about this... his whole career could be abolished over people's rule. The drunkard from the table let out a doubtful cough at the two. Never in his life had he seen such a pair. Astrid took notice of the man firstly and smiled slyly.

"We're just married."

"Go!" demanded Ulfric.

Ulfric's horse was stolen while in the Inn, so for this journey they both had to make it on feet. Astrid did not mind, yet Ulfric anguished every second he had to be forcible strung with Astrid, and the conversations they would no doubt have. However for the first few hours it was... silent. Not a peep out of both. They walked meters from each other, avoiding direct contact and bleakly avoiding each other.  
Finally, a conversation sparked as they were passing a shallow stream.

"So... you wish to know the real reason I came with you." asked Astrid, stumbling on sharp rocks on the stream.

"Don't I know?" questioned Ulfric.

"When I heard about your scandal with Torygg... well. I was most intrigued to follow. The Dark Brotherhood has been lacking lately, people underestimate us and respect is dormant. To kill the High King, and leave that prissy bag Elisif all alone. Well that would certainly reward the Dark Brotherhood with so much respect that people may fear us again, or even worship us."

"Not happening, Astrid." he assured. Astrid began to plead,

"You can have the kill, all I want... is the fame. Fair enough?"

"It's not about killing Torygg, I have to kill him so the Empire see's my protest. So I shall grow my uprising." Ulfric said proudly. Astrid snorted,

"Ahh yes, another war... weren't you in the Great War?" Ulfric stopped on a rock, glaring at Astrid's grin.

"Mmmhm. Don't look so surprised. I know more about you than you do." Astrid stumbled over the stream residing rocks, she tumbled, but before hitting the sharp rocks Ulfric grabbed her torso, relieving her from danger. He lifted her up gently, she looked up at him. Her nose only an inch from his chin but their eyes were met. Astrid's green eyes reflected the harvesting trees from above them. That same smell rose up as it did the night before, the smell of fresh strawberries. It was the sweet aroma Ulfric loathed the day he met Astrid. But now... he wished to breath it regularly. Silence was the only comfort they had, besides the trickling and flowing of the stream. He wouldn't have admitted it then but that very sudden moment, in midday, there was... a connection. Ulfric immediately cut it off, feeling a bit dazzled. Ulfric broke the awkward silence met afterwards,

"I'm guessing my contract holder told you all this." he continued walking, she followed.

"He did indeed, do you still wish to know his name?" she asked, trying to keep balance on the rocks.

"Are you willing to tell me?"

"I must tell you a little story first." she let out a cough and continued, "I didn't just come to Dawnstar for a personal get away. I came here for debt. But, as you might have guessed my charming client busheled off before payment was to be inclined. I should have asked for payment BEFORE the kill, but then if I did, you and me wouldn't be this well acquainted."

"You were set up?" he chuckled.

"Yes, It's quite ironic really. I was going to confront him and claim I killed you. I'd take my payment and soon he would find out you're still... up and around. He would try to track me down but fail. The Dark Brotherhood is never found easily. I mean, at least give me more time to gather more associates and create an ambush to.."

"Why are we talking about how you wanted to kill me? Just tell me the name." badgered Ulfric. They finally reached dry land and continued through the forest. Astrid let out a sigh,

"Very well, Hanso. At least that's what he told me." Ulfric stopped his movement and turned to Astrid.

"I knew it. Filthy imperial traitor!"

"Should I be informed?"

"During the Great War I met a fellow imperial soldier, named Hanso. He was a great friend along with Galmar. Once the White Gold Concordat was signed he pleaded to be on my side. This whole time... he was just a spy. Once an imperial, always an imperial. That'll teach me for ever offering hospitality for a foreigner ever again." Now when Ulfric thought about it, he knew the only place for Skyrim was those who came from it; Nords. This was their home, and now suddenly its being flooded by Elves, Argonians, Khajiits, Red Guards, Bretons and Imperials? All that's happened since they came here is war after war. They only create conflict. Staying in our individual homeland's was really the only way as he saw it to avoid violence.

"Elves, they started this..." Ulfric muttered to himself continuing. Ignoring the presence of Astrid he simply spoke it out of his lips. Astrid responded,

"Elves? Now, now lets not get racial. I happen to be a friend with a Dark Elf. She's saved my life a few times."

"That's not convincing, let me guess. She's also a cutthroat?"

"Not just a cutthroat." she said, "... A great cutthroat."

"How did a Nord get started in this non-sense anyway?" Ulfric snapped at Astrid.

"Well, we're not all "Nords for Skyrim, Praise Talos!" types, as you may wish, Jarl."

"Meaning?" he replied. Astrid looked down at the ground of the forestry. She pressed her lips and glanced back at Ulfric.

Suddenly the sound of an arrow aiming was heard from the right. Both the alerted Nords focused their attention and saw a Forsworn aiming a hunting bow at the young assassin's head. Six other approached through trees and over small hills.

"Great, just what we need right now..." Astrid groaned. Ulfric unsheathed his sword and a slap to the head from Astrid came instantly.

"You idiot! Put away your blade... threatening these Breton's is basically asking for death." Ulfric rubbed the back of his head, lowering his sword.

"Nords." growled one hiding behind a deer head attire. "This is our land, leave before we drive our swords through your gullet."

"You can try!" Ulfric raised his sword again, arrows around him took aim suddenly. Silence took hold of the peril, Astrid rose her hands in lightsurrender.

"Woah, Woah! Now lets all, just put our weapons down. We can discuss this, can't we?" Astrid smacked Ulfric's sword down and gave the vicious Bretons an anxious smile.

"The Dark Brotherhood, what are you doing with this milk drinker? I thought your kind didn't venture with amateurs." asked the Forsworn. The Forsworn was a Briarheart, he was the leader of this small group.

"Forgive me if the chain around my neck is undetectable." groaned Astrid, resting her hands on her hips. Ulfric then stepped forward and said,

"We're passing through. Which what happens to be near Hjjalmarch, this is not your land. And neither is the Reach." the Forsworn then unsheathed his axe and and ran at Ulfric only a few feet, threatening him,

"You know nothing, Nord! Your people steal our land from us! So now we steal it from you, and you'll never EVER steal the Reach from us! Markarth will burn by the fires of Hagravens!" Astrid then laughed anxiously at the Bretons, pulling Ulfric back aggressively,

"Just ignore this man! He's a moron..!" Ulfric shoved his way past her,

"You filthy Bretons pollute our Skyrim with your disgusting Hagravens and your magic! The Reach will be taken from you! For it belongs with it's true care takers; Nords! We will drive you out of Skyrim and back to the wasteland of High Rock from whence you came!"

Ulfric had successfully angered the Bretons to hostility. The forsworn whipped out his sword and ran at the Jarl, Astrid grabbed Ulfric's sword and threw it at the Forsworn. It spun perfectly in direct aim, and stabbed through his chest. This of course sprung up the small war between the 2 Nords and the six remaining Bretons. A forsworn jumped on Ulfric's back, Ulfric however threw him on the ground and stabbed it's own sword through its forehead. Astrid ripped Ulfric's sword out of the Briarhearts chest and then quickly slashed another one's throat. It fell gurgling on it's own blood. Ulfric then picked up a bow and drove it through a Forsworn's belly. Three still remained, and one had the power of magicka. Astrid took on the mage, whilst Ulfric fought the other two. Astrid using her stamina and agility was able to avoid and dodge every fireball tossed at her. She climbed up a tree log and was lost in the branches. Not being able to find her, he fixated on Ulfric. She then dropped from the leaves unto the mage, and stabbed a sharp branch into his back. Ulfric was in a different solution. He was strong, but the speed of the Breton's out matched him. One had slashed his arm almost to the bone and left him useless in his right arm. He had to fight with his left, which made it difficult to fight. Ulfric had unarmed one, but the other was almost as strong as him. Astrid then appeared, saving him from certain death. She finally pulled out her dagger, "The Blade of Woe", and slashed the armed Forsworn; cutting right through his spine. She tossed the dagger at Ulfric, and with the dagger in hand he cleaved it into the last remaining Forsworn's throat. He pulled it out, it made an unpleasing sound of blood erupting, and the body fell. Instead of the grunting and screaming of Forsworn's all that was heard was the chirping of birds and the pleasant sound of a stream nearby. Astrid let out a few breathes of exhaustion and panted,

"What part... of no threatening... do you... not understand?!" Ulfric shrugged his shoulders and breathed out,

"... You... saved me."

"You saved me too. Besides, something tells me I can still change your mind about this whole "Torygg" business." Astrid smiled, sheathing her dagger. Ulfric chuckled and muttered,

"Thank you."

"This is getting a bit maudlin... we should keep going." Astrid grumbled, Ulfric nodded and picked up his sword. Together they were off once again. Suddenly far off in the distance they heard the sharp sound of a mangled crow. However, it sounded like a twisted bird from the distance. The screech... was like nothing they had ever heard before. Yet it sounded very familiar.

"Was that..." muttered Astrid, stopping.

"Hagraven." said Ulfric. He looked down at Astrid. Despite both being great fighters, after that dual they had just conquered... they were in no mood to fight a Hagraven. They could distract you with their horrid figure, and kill you as easily as thinking. Horrid witches they were. They could hear her getting closer. Her screeches more octave.

"Shall we run?" mumbled Astrid. Ulfric gave a nod,

"Lets."


	4. The Wolves Descend

Ulfric gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Veins stretched across his arms as he flexed his muscles in pain. Ulfric sat with no upper attire on, for Astrid had no hope in patching his wound with his armor equipped. He could still feel the Forsworn blade slicing through his arm as Astrid aggressively dug and stitched his wound with a thread and a small needle. Surely, Astrid had never patched a wound this bad before, for it was bleeding far more than it did once cut.  
After running from the Hagraven, they found themselves residing at a side inn in Hjallmarch called the Road Mead Hall. A perfect stop for wandering travelers. They stayed in the upstairs room; the very last door on the hall. Only company was themselves.

"Agh! Would you stop... stabbing at it!" screeched Ulfric. Astrid rolled her eyes and continued her fierce healing.

"Ugh, you are such a baby!" she gasped, compressing a cloth against the wound. Astrid grabbed a Healing Potion from her bag. The only way to lessen the pain and bleeding was to pour the potion on the cut directly, which the brief sharp pain would probably hurt more than what Astrid was doing.

"This will hurt." she muttered. Suddenly she spilled it on his unfinished stitched wound and the pain made Ulfric almost punch her. The potion boiled into his cut, like it was setting a fire throughout his body. Suddenly, the pain was gone. The relief was almost... exhilarating. He let out a sigh and gave a nod to Astrid.

"Can I continue stitching this, please?" asked Astrid. She did just that. The next stitches only gave Ulfric slight pinches. The mending of the wound was above all content from then on.

"Why are you helping me?" snarled Ulfric. Astrid glanced back and forth from the wound, wondering if what he was asking was sincere.

"Because I need you sharp. If we're actually going to make it to Solitude to kill the King and fight our way through all those soldiers you need to be strong."

"We?" asked Ulfric, "When was there a "we"? The circumstances were that you bring me to my sword you stole. Then you and I never cross paths again. I must be the one to kill Torygg." Astrid chuckled in disbelief at Ulfric's prowess.

"So you plan on killing Torygg all by yourself? No help? To walk into the city of Solitude to not only kill the King but all the city guards as well… Hmph. It's outstanding how far vengeance can get you…"

"This isn't an act of simple vengeance." Ulfric assured, "It's proving a valid point. I will walk into the Blue Palace and demand a challenge with Torygg for the throne. I have to kill him to prove to Skyrim that he was an unfit King. A king should be able to defend his throne if he wishes to defend the whole of Skyrim. His death will no doubt alert the Dominion. Then Skyrim shall start another war, its last war, a war to free Skyrim once and for all."

"What if Torygg is stronger than you think?" asked Astrid finishing up the wound.

"Doubtful. Torygg is merely just a boy no older than me, and I'm 25. He was chosen to be king by the blood of his father who no doubt died in the war, while he stayed home in Solitude wooing his strumpet. Evidence is damning; Torygg is simply not a fit King. I shall approach him for a challenge; if he accepts we fight, if he declines… then my point would be proven regardless. No one wants a coward for a king." No response was given by Astrid, except a somewhat taunting giggle.

"Something amusing?" questioned Ulfric.

"I swear I've forgotten how worked up Nords get in war. Very amusing, brings me back to why I left that life behind. All that honor and… prowess can be too much for a girl." Ulfric snapped back,

"What do you know of honor and prowess?!" suddenly Astrid unsheathed her dagger; Ulfric panicked but then was relieved when she only used it to cut the string of his stitched wound.

"Nothing…" she whispered. She then got up from the wooden stool she had been sitting on and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" demanded Ulfric.

"I'm hungry, sometimes assassins need to eat too." before she closed the door behind her she muttered, "They better have sweet rolls." and she was gone.

Ulfric finally was alone in this room. He could think without smart remarks from a mysterious girl with no remorse for life or suffering. _"What am I doing?"_ He thought to himself. What would his father say if he knew what he was doing? Would he be ashamed? Or possibly angry? The great Bear of Eastmarch certainly would not be happy, but he was doing this for him. He HAD to get that sword back, for it was the only remainder of his father besides Ulfric himself. Getting it stolen was a disgrace to his father; none the less losing it to an amateur cutthroat. Ulfric was still young, but so was Astrid… surely he could have prevented this all from happening. Ulfric was getting lost in thoughts and he had to use this time to get sleep. He did not trust Astrid. He had to sleep for as much as he could before he got that dagger up against his throat. So he closed his eyes, and somehow forgot if Astrid could possibly have gone to runaway. No, he knew she was down stairs eating due to the long journey. So he fell asleep. Astrid however was nor downstairs eating, drinking or anything. She had left the Inn, not to runaway… but to meet with someone. Someone she contacted right before Ulfric pursued her. She fled into the woods; darkness was a blanket lingering over the trees, and little slits of red and orange hist in the sky, the perfect night for a sinister meeting. Once Astrid was far enough in the woods, she heard shuffling in the trees. She unsheathed her sword ready for any threat she may face. Suddenly a black, cloaked figure appeared. They were a silhouette, they blended with the trees. Astrid took a breathe, and with her voice low and firm she quoted,

"What is the music of life?" the form stopped suddenly, and with their feminine voice in turn; a dark yet calming voice, the voice only from a true dunmer she responded,

"Silence, my sister." Astrid's relief came like a wave. She sheathed her weapon and with a smile she questioned,

"Gabriella…? Is that you?" Astrid launched at her companion with a hug, Gabriella returned it. Her red eyes glowed in the shrouded midnight and her grey skin reflected a blue tone. Her voice matched her appearance to the last detail, dark… and majestic.

"Your message was ever so brief, dear sister… so, this man following you?"

"The Jarl of Windhelm, he's in there. Right now." Gabriella took a glance at the glowing inn, the only source of light for miles. It stood innocently through all the black trees and sinister surroundings. It represented a lot to her, for Gabriella saw much in many things, and in many situations. How the noble Jarl stayed beyond the shining Inn, full of innocence. Then while the two cutthroats abide shrouded and ominous in the cloaked woods. It was a beautiful situation that only Gabriella could see.

"Astrid, don't you know never to get too attached to your contracts?" she teased. Astrid continued,

"There's more!" Gabriella interrupted Astrid,

"But that shining blade you obscured happened to be a family heirloom, now he's trailing you around like a dog to find it, am I right?" she looked back at the friendly looking Inn, "Then what are we waiting for, time to send this fool to Sithis, or Sovengarde… or.."

"He's on his way to kill the High King!" Astrid claimed. Gabriella caressed her chin suddenly at such a statement.

"Now that is interesting… why?"

"To take charge of the throne, more Nord nonsense that we shouldn't be a part of." Astrid grumbled,

"Then why am I here, Astrid?" demanded Gabriella.

"Because I need your help, I had an idea. I will need more than just you though. Perhaps Veezera, Amaric and Nazir could assist. Babette I fear is still mending to the call of blood."

"What is it?" Gabriella asked, crossing her arms.

"More than anything, our sanctuary needs power. There was a time when people were too scared to even speak of the Dark Brotherhood, now we have warrants for us! This fool plans to kill the King during a traditional duel… how about somehow the Solitude steward obscures himself a note saying how an assassin will be coming for the King during a certain time. That will be our little friend in there, and then when all the guards are manning the front gate and castle, they'll see Ulfric pop by and with that they'll fight him. Due to Ulfric's shout thing he does… I assume the fight will stretch. That's when we sneak into the castle through disguise. And while all the guards are too preoccupied with Ulfric, we kill Torygg for ourselves. Let a witness see our handy work, and escaped via the tunnels of Solitude. They will lead us to an old tomb outside of Morthal… where we escape." Gabriella gave Astrid a sinister grin; you could see the satisfaction in her eyes.

"Astrid, I am impressed. This is a bloody good plan. With thinking like that I'm amazed you're not already the Listener, perhaps the Night Mother has a destiny for you others cannot determine."

"Yes… well." continued Astrid, "Anyway don't you see the use of this plan? People will fear us again! A glory we've been trying to achieve in many a decade."

"What of this tunnel?" asked Gabriella, "How do you know of such a thing?".

"My first contract, when I had to kill that fop in the Blue Palace. The housecarl saw me, I managed to out run the fool and escape through a hidden cellar door passage and came out through an old crypt. Killed many drauger… but it's nothing we can't handle." Gabriella nodded, she turned to the wilderness and then back at Astrid. Astrid stared anxiously waiting for a response.

"I will speak with Amaric." added Gabriella, "He is the closest thing to a leader after all, and if he is anywhere as intelligent as he thinks he is, he'll consider it. I shall consult with Veezera and Nazir first. Bloody High Elf better not ruin this for us. You too! Ulfric must never know of our plans. You know how Nords are."

"I have more experience with the asses than all of you, I can handle it." assured Astrid. Suddenly in the distance they heard the sharp wail of a howl from in the woods. It struck both of their attention.

"Wolves?" asked Astrid.

"No." said Gabriella, "…Bigger."

Meanwhile back in the Inn, 2 hours had passed since Ulfric had closed his eyes… suddenly he woke. He shot up from his pillow, and remembered Astrid immediately. More importantly he couldn't help but wonder where she was. Panic then struck him. _"She ran! She escaped!"_ Ulfric grabbed his sword and hoped that Astrid was still sitting down there, but once he reached the main area he saw she was nowhere. Anger burned inside him, like a torch. He ran out the front door and saw two black shadows in the woods. He heard Astrid, and with that he ran at them with his sword pointed straight.

"Hey! That's right you! Get out here!" They both jolted, and innocently took hands and walked to the light. Astrid's golden hair began to shine as it hit the light, Ulfric's relief that Astrid was still there calmed him, but he still stayed on edge towards the other female.

"You! Who are you?" yelled Ulfric. The dunmer only stood, with terror in her eyes at Ulfric's rage.

"Speak!" screamed Ulfric again, jolting his word.

"Astrid, calm your dog if you want to keep him!" pleaded Gabriella. Astrid shielded Gabriella with herself; using the advantage that Ulfric didn't want her dead as a weapon. Ulfric pointed his sword at Astrid then, his teeth clenched.

"Who is she?" Astrid looked back at Gabriella; she gulped enduring the pressure of Ulfric's sword.

"A… friend."

"A friend." chuckled Ulfric, "Well, she's no friend of mine, which means she's a friend of yours and any friend of yours is bad news! So you two are going to tell me what you're planning. Or I swear…"

"I was looking for her!" gasped Gabriella. Silence overcame them. Ulfric lowered his blade slightly, and questioned bewildered,

"Looking for her?"

"She didn't return to the sanctuary, so… I vowed I would go looking for her to see if she was safe. When she told me that she owed you that sword. I tried to tell her to come with me while she still could, but no. She said she had to get you that sword back for you, and that… it was the only way she could come home; that you didn't deserve to be toyed with." Gabriella finished her sentence with a nervous smile, to get on a Nord's good side when being threatened by one might be the only way to survive. Ulfric then focused on Astrid; she was actually quite impressed by Gabriella's lying.

"What do you care what I deserve?" he looked right at Astrid again, her green eyes red veined with anguish and her lips slightly parted. She thought about that question, even though it wouldn't matter to her if only Ulfric wasn't looking at her in the way he was. He looked at her with no reluctant expression, or hatred, but true concern. He really wanted to know, and for a minute Astrid was actually going to respond not knowing what to say. She just wanted to say something to him, the feeling made her want to say anything. Anything to make him understand why he deserved something, what did he deserve? The situation was befuddling Astrid's emotion and making her debate what her feelings were for Ulfric, was he just some grouchy Jarl pushing her around, or something more. Something potential. She wanted to know, she wanted to know Ulfric.

Suddenly her train of thought was broken as a wretched squeal was heard from far off in the woods, the sound of a full grown man being torn to pieces. The scream stretched on longer and ended with indecent gurgles. Ulfric pushed his way through the two ladies and into the wild for his sense of righteousness was still existent. Astrid and Gabriella; unsure what they should do they followed. The screaming man was still wailing his way through the woods. Ulfric far ahead pushed himself to run faster, while Gabriella and Astrid quickly followed,

"Ulfric!" yelled Astrid, "Wait!" they finally reached an open area of grass, the trees walled the area and all that remained beside the grass was a torn apart body of a wandering adventurer, his insides spilled onto the soil and limbs ripped off the very bone. The slices on his stomach were caused by tremendous claws that sliced down to the spine. Ulfric knelt down to the body covering his mouth from the stench of warm flesh.

"I can't see anything… we need a torch." he claimed. Gabriella then ripped off a branch from a nearby tree, and with the power of magicka she lit it with a fire spell. She handed the torch to Ulfric and so he examined the wounds.

"By the nine, this is no saber cat's work." stated Ulfric as he lowered the torch to see the cuts more thoroughly. Ulfric then noticed an odd speck in the flesh, he picked at it to reveal it.

"I found something… it's…" he continued, "It's a finger nail?" the finger nail looked like it was ripped out from constant pressure.

"Wasn't always a finger nail…" mumbled Gabriella. Then back at the Inn sounds of howling was heard once again, and Ulfric went trudging back.

"There he goes again!" yelled Gabriella following the two Nords. They made their way through the woods, slower than before and by the time theyarrived back the Inn was coated in blood.

"By Sithis." gasped Gabriella.

"My bag!" yelled Astrid. She ran into the deserted Inn, Ulfric attempted to grab her,

"Astrid!" he ran after her but stopped once he saw the inside, it was like a nightmare. Blood and flesh was scattered all over, and the place once full of good traveling folk was now a pool of blood. What creature could have done this was all Ulfric could think. All though there was one thing to be certain, there was more than just one. Astrid made her way back down stairs, and then slipped on a puddle of blood; she toppled down and landed on her bag. Ulfric ran to her, not sure why. He felt it was just right to help her. She grabbed on to his arm and he helped her up, Astrid looked up at him and gave a smile. The smile stunned Ulfric, it said softly "thank you" he could even hear her saying it too. He returned a smile, but this was no time to be sharing a moment. This place was a den of danger,

"Anything up there?" asked Ulfric,

"No, just more blood. Like some poor sod was dragged down by something wicked… and torn to shreds." Gabriella then capered in bringing news,

"I found a trail; we can follow it to find out what this beast is! By trail, I mean sprayed blood… either way lets go." All three made their way out to follow the bloody marks of ripped apart flesh. Gabriella had lit fire, crackling in her palms in case any danger should spring up, Ulfric and Astrid wielded their blades. They were ready for anything.

Eventually they found themselves in front of a rather ominous cave, no one knew where it would lead, but the tracks stopped there.

"Alright, we must handle this with care. Go in together. Try to find out what this beast is." Ulfric ran in, his prowess was the only way to survive this. Astrid followed in curiosity to find out what this thing was while Gabriella could not let Astrid the youngest Dark Brotherhood assassin (in years) go in alone, so all three made their selves inside the cave. The cave was dank, dark, and stunk of fresh blood, the numerous dead bodies of men and woman filled the air of rotting flesh as they passed a corner. Astrid skipped over the dead bodies covering her nose, and picked up a sword.

"Look!" she muffled her voice through her hand. "It's a Silver-Hand sword." Suddenly in the next room of the cave yelped a man off his feet, desperate for help. He was tied to a wooden post and blood was drying in his beard. Ulfric ran over to the poor Nord, who looked like life was choked out of him. The man's relief was immense at the sight of Ulfric, but panic kept him from giving thanks.

"You… have to leave." he breathed out. Ulfric ignored his pleads, for he saved for too many men in the Great War to listen to a suffering's warning.

"What happened here, kinsman? What are these things?" asked Ulfric, terror stricken.

"They… they..." choked the man. Astrid and Gabriella stared intently, looking out for enemies and looking out for themselves.

"They… turned me..."

"Who turned you? Into what?" panicked Ulfric. The man just kept rambling,

"They just… pinned me down. Made me drink the blood… I said no! But… they said it would help me. Turn me into something… better. I've… killed…" Ulfric lost his patience and began to shout,

"Into what?! What are you?!" Astrid then let out a scream of horror at what she was beholding. To the left of Ulfric through a doorway crawled a 10 feet werewolf, it stood up on its legs and let out a roar of such immense terror it made it feel like the world stopped. When it attempted to charge at Ulfric, Gabriella casted three fire spells at the beast making it fly back; toppling on its friends. There were at least 6 of the dreaded monsters waiting to chew all three of their insides. Ulfric then uncut the man immediately and put his arm over his shoulder.

"What are you doing he's one of them!" yelled Gabriella.

"I'm not going to let him stay in here and rot, there could be a cure!" screamed Ulfric back. The werewolves were recovering from the fire and were ready to strike again, they had to make haste.

"That room over there! Go! Go!" screamed Astrid. All three scurried into the blood flowing room, which looked to be an old torture room. Ulfric closed wooden door behind them and stored as much as he could in front of it. The man was set down by Astrid, she pulled out a healing potion from her bag to assist him.

"Don't get comfy!" yelled Ulfric, "No doubt they'll have this thing open in 10 minutes tops."

"Along with the other door over there." pointed Gabriella. Gabriella was right; another door was on the other side of the room, and who knew how many more werewolves there were.

"Son of a bitch!" glowered Ulfric. The werewolves then started slashing and slicing at the front door. Ulfric did his best to keep it from breaking, but he was one man… no doubt it would soon break. Astrid was only trying to nurse the man back to submission, in hopes they could make a run for it without having to hold him up. She poured the potion into his mouth, and he submitted to swallow.

"What's your name?" she asked, she felt it was right to ask him.

"..A…Arnbjorn." he coughed out, "I think I can walk…"

"Great but can you run? These things like to, and they're going to be in here in less than 5 minutes!" screamed Ulfric. "I need ideas!" Astrid then had an epiphany; it was the only thing she could come up with in a time like this.

"Make a run for it… just you three! I'll stay here and make sure you get out alright."

"Are you mad, Astrid? Can you stop giving into your inevitable Nord prowess and think of something plausible?" Ulfric thought of the plan directly, and discussed it over within himself.

"She's right." said Ulfric, "The wolves will pay attention to her and forget all about us for the time being. Run your way past them to where we came in. Then meet us on the other side so we can take them by surprise, we take them now we'll no doubt be torn apart. There is too many, and this man's injuries are too great so he'll need to be hauled to safety. Time for us to find him somewhere safe while we deal with the wolves is good enough. That's all we need!"

"You can't be serious! Astrid you'll die!" squealed Gabriella. Astrid looked down at Arnbjorn with a weight in her stomach; weight of fear.

"At least I'll die with knowing I did one last good deed for this world, maybe it'll make up for all the horrible ones." Gabriella almost choked on air its self hearing this. She was in disbelief.

"Wha-What have you done to her?!" yelled Gabriella at Ulfric. Astrid pulled up Arnbjorn and lent him over to Gabriella.

"Escape out the back door; have your fire balls on the ready. Don't stop running! I'll meet you out there if I can." Ulfric was beginning to feel pressure of guilt, Astrid was making a sacrifice for him… and he was just going to leave her here.

"Please tell me you know what you're doing." pleaded Gabriella, Astrid gave her a hug of sincere regret and knowing their life span they shared it briefly. Ulfric grabbed Astrid's bag in case of it weighing her down when running.

"Don't die." stated Ulfric. "You're still my guide, cutthroat." Astrid smiled,

"Don't get your hopes up."

Astrid then unsheathed her dagger and looked back at the door being shredded into pieces. She felt some peace actually doing something good for once,

"You two go… I'll take care of these dogs." before Ulfric could turn to open the door and bolt through the tunnels outside he was pulled back by Astrid and found his lips intertwined with hers. Astrid presumed these were to be the very last hours of her life, so with all that was happening. The feelings for Ulfric, the prowess she was aching for. The life she wanted was simply some comfort from all this blood. She became a cutthroat because she felt like she didn't belong anywhere else. Ulfric was slowly turning her into someone she shunned to be, yet this new Astrid could not be more welcoming. Ulfric was stunned, he almost stopped moving. The shocking display of Astrid's affection had put him into a frenzy. As her lips moved against his, he could not fight it. He surrendered, and moved his against hers too. That same smell rose up again, the smell of strawberries, the smell of Astrid. He wanted more of it, so he pulled her in and she was like a cocoon in his arms. She pulled herself closer to him with every movement of their lips, and her tip toes stretched trying to reach up to him. His arms wrapped around her hips, and her small delicate hands in his soft hair. This moment was almost eternal; they were so stuck in it they forgot about the situation. Gabriella had gotten tired of waiting and took Arnbjorn through the tunnels. For a minute they thought they would never stop, something kept pulling them together. Whether it was Sithis and Talos playing games with the two, some kind of destiny that could not be stopped, or perhaps time had frozen it's very self. Something was making this moment last forever. Suddenly the realization of what they were in hit them, and their lips broke apart.

"You should go…" whispered Astrid. She pushed him gently to the door and turned her attention to the werewolves behind the door, with only moments before it collapsed. Ulfric hesitated; he wanted to take her with him. More than anything he wanted her to come with him now. But he ran, ran faster than he ever could through those tunnels. Regret filled him and scratched inside of him. He should have never of left her to her fate, especially after what had happened. There was an opening through the tunnels and he climbed out tripping on every rock. Once he breached the outside he was met by the moonlight, and by Gabriella's hand.

"Where's the man?" asked Ulfric,

"In that abandoned tent over there. He should be unnoticeable, and Astrid…"

"She stayed behind as said… pray to the god's she returns."

A minute had passed, and Astrid was still nowhere to be seen. Ulfric's hope in finding his sword was dormant in replace of Astrid's safety. Ulfric was getting impatient; moments were being wasted and for all he knew Astrid could be in 6 different stomachs right now. Suddenly just over a hill came running Astrid from whence they went into the cave. Ulfric couldn't help a grin of relief, neither could Gabriella.

"You crazy sister!" screamed Gabriella. However their joy soon was abolished when four hungry werewolves came bolting after her. Gabriella casted a shock spell at one of them, however it only injured the beast. It took two casts to finally kill it. Ulfric unsheathed his sword and ran at the three other great monsters. Gabriella casted another fire spell at one of them and it only flew back.

"We got to get out of here!" screamed Astrid, "There are more of them!" Suddenly from over the hill came more unexpected guests, but they were not werewolves. Instead they were warriors of the Silver Hand, and there were a lot more of them than just six. The warriors then charged in fighting off every werewolf they could see, which this was a great opportunity for Ulfric, Astrid, Gabriella and Arnbjorn to sneak away. Getting caught up with these warriors might even be worse than the werewolves. Running for many miles, not sure in what direction they stopped in Whiterun Hold, right in front of the city. They were farther from Solitude then they had wished.

"At least we got out alive." shrugged Ulfric.

"At least." added Astrid. "Now that were "alive" what do we do with him?" she said referring to Arnbjorn.

"I have an idea, there's a place he can go that he'll be accepted. I'm sure." claimed Gabriella. "Ever heard of the Companions?"

"What would they want with him?" asked Ulfric.

"Well, let's just say I know a lot of dirty secrets…" smirked Gabriella, "I should probably drop him off at the Temple of Kynareth first." Gabriella then began to walk to the Whiterun gates.

"By yourself?" asked Astrid.

"I may be a small elf girl, but that doesn't mean I'm weak. This big hunk of a man is my burden." stated Gabriella, "Besides something tells me you two have a few things to go over."


	5. Dwelling in Dwemer

After many minutes of unbreakable silence, Gabriella finally returned back to Astrid and Ulfric's company. With her she held a basket of fresh food, potions and rags.

"What's this?" asked Astrid approaching her.

"Well I suspected the journey you two are making you might need some resources. You know… to stay alive." she handed the basket to Astrid lightly. Ulfric finally got himself off from the ground and rubbed his eyes. Ulfric was exhausted; it had been days since he got a good night's sleep.

"What of the Nord? Arnbjorn? How will he be?" Ulfric questioned to Gabriella. She smiled contently,

"Kodlak took him in with open arms. I'm sure the Circle will find a use for him in one or another way." Relief calmed Ulfric; despite what Arnbjorn was it didn't stop him from wanting to help the poor man. Especially in the condition he was in and now that he is welcomed in Jorrvasker things will certainly be brighter for the man.

"And for me." continued Gabriella, "Well, I think I should probably shoo before we get into a tangle with demented Spriggans. This night will surely be the highlight of my life." Both Astrid and Ulfric had to agree with her on that one. The fear that was illustrated in front of them not even a night ago was traumatic. The nightmares they would have were inevitable, even for Astrid, when she herself is the bringer of death. Yet Astrid wasn't even an assassin long enough to adapt to the smell of blood and fear, surely Ulfric in the Great War encountered much death. Astrid however will never mend from the display she saw that night. Putting away her thoughts she gave Gabriella a humble smile,

"I suppose this is farewell. So long, sister." Assuming they would not see each other for a long time they embraced in a hug once again, although this time Astrid felt a strange thing being slipped into her hand as she pulled away. It was a note that no doubt Gabriella had written.

"Read that when you're alone." she whispered for only Astrid to hear. She immediately put the note in her knapsack avoiding Ulfric's eyes. Gabriella then turned to Ulfric,

"I suppose I owe a farewell too." she tittered.

"No you don't, just leave." informed Ulfric. He never cared much for Gabriella from the start; they didn't even know each other for a day. So why should he care about her farewell? Gabriella frowned,

"Just don't get Astrid killed. Or I assure you she won't be the last Dark Brotherhood who tries to end you." Gabriella then walked off, her black robes and sinister posture faded over the hills as she wandered away. Soon she was just a black dot among the landscape, and then disappeared with the woods. Ulfric did have a little respect for her, the fact she did save his life. Though the meeting held in the woods with Astrid kept him on edge. He wasn't going to believe for a second she was just there to "check up on Astrid" there was something dark about her, and it wasn't just her gray skin. He wasn't sure who to trust, it was very conflicted. But he was impressed with Astrid. She showed possible valor last night that only a true Lioness would do. Yet trusting her was still pending, the girl was as shady as a Thalmor Ambassador. Who knows what Ulfric could expect from her?

"Well I suppose we should start heading to that Dwemer Ruin." advised Astrid.

"Dwemer Ruin?" questioned Ulfric, "Why?"

"If you want your sword, we go there. The one who bought your sword seemed to be residing there. Odd place to settle down don't you think?" Ulfric's panic increased with every thought of where they were heading. Astrid was already heading in the chosen direction. The Dwemer ruins to Ulfric were a place he never wanted to go. Many stories were told about the brilliance of dwarves, the odd technologies they had stored in those places… they were almost _life-like_ in many witnesses' descriptions. However, the witnesses' minds were insane from what they saw in those horrid places. Ulfric made his way following her, trying to catch up.

"Have you ever been in one of those places?" asked Ulfric with agitation in his shaken voice. Astrid shrugged with a laugh,

"Well I had to sell the sword somehow? Ha-ha."

"No, but have you ever fought a Dwemer machine?"

"Of course not, those things can rip me to pieces." answered Astrid pulling an apple from the basket. She took one simple bite from it and stopped her trail trying to make out which direction to go next. She chewed 5 or 6 times and swallowed, then pointed,

"There! We go to Raldbthar." She pointed to a mountain; it was the same mountain near Windhelm. Ulfric remembered when he was a boy he always wanted to go adventure there, but Galmar always informed him of the dangers due to the "Dwarven Ruin" near it. Now he was going there, for the first time. At least he wasn't going alone, and Ulfric wasn't going to let some Dwarven tools stop him from getting his sword. He got together his prowess, and followed Astrid to this place. He survived a clan of werewolves, I'm sure he can survive a few clunky machines. Though he was well aware no Silver-Hand would be there to save neither him… nor Astrid.

The journey they made stretched on farther and farther. Both were freezing and the rags Gabriella got for them made pitiful hoods. Together they trudged through the snow, no speech and no consideration of each other. Although Astrid was a lot more considerable than what she used to be. Whenever Ulfric fell on a slippery patch of ice, Astrid would rush over to help him. When Ulfric mentioned the cold, Astrid offered her hood. Yet he never took it, because somewhat Ulfric felt considerable of her too. Whether it was what happened in the cave or something else, they tended to care about each other a lot more. Astrid cared about Ulfric, she knew it too. She wasn't sure about _"love"_ or _"passion"_, but something made her weary for his safety. The kiss wasn't a goodbye to Ulfric, it was a made awareness. It was so Astrid could let Ulfric know what he was doing to her, and how he was changing her. The kiss seemed right at the moment; now Astrid regretted every bit of it. She knew Ulfric didn't feel the same, why would he? She was a cutthroat; an abomination to all Nord-kind. No man as righteous and prowess as Ulfric would ever bother to stoop down to such degrading feelings. In Ulfric's mind however, he was trying _not_ to feel anything for her. Fighting it was hard enough, but having to take in the decency of her new changing format was like fighting off a saber cat. Her smile, green eyes, golden hair and new found courage were just a shake for Ulfric. But the kiss awakened him in total; it put him into a shock. Not a shock of disgust, but feelings for this strange, shrouded girl.  
As the air of Winterhold settled and the warmth of the afternoon came, they were able to travel blissfully in the snow. The chirping of birds and the melting of the snow made everything calmer. It satisfied both of their moods; the peace of this wintery landscape was luxurious. The sun finally peaked through the clouds brightening the white tundra and illuminating the snow and trees with a brilliant orange glow. The smell of fresh air, pine trees and melting snow filled their nostrils, it was a beautiful sight. Soon the warm breeze swirled through the air, and eventually it blew through Astrid's golden hair, that now shined a pure color of sunlight as it reflected against it. She smiled; the calming breeze put everything into perspective. The wind then hit Ulfric and he smelt the very smell that has been taunting him this whole trip. It was once again Astrid's aroma, the smell of strawberry fields. The smell of a sweet maiden selling fresh strawberry at a stall. It enticed him variously for he was now ready to ask her,

"What is that?" asked Ulfric to Astrid. She turned to his attention from the wilderness.

"What?" she asked quite intrigued. She slowed her pace to walk side by side with him.

"That smell, it's been filling my nostrils ever since I met you." Astrid then chuckled lightly. For she knew exactly what it was,

"It's a fragrance my dear friend made for me, Babette. She's an alchemist. It's supposed to be used for attracting the opposite sex; mostly it's used for contracts. Either way I find it delectable and wear it as a fine aroma. I love to smell it regularly… so I wear it all the time. Sure it's useful on a contract or two, but I find it to be a faction of my personality."

"Why would you use it on a contract?" asked Ulfric, trudging through deep snow.

"Sometimes the classic "sneaking through a window" can be dangerous. So we try to make friends with them, allure them… anything. The important factor is that it works." It took time for Astrid to figure out what she just said. Then finally it hit her, and she could feel Ulfric's eyes on her. Astrid stopped her trail, and stared intently at Ulfric as if she just made a horrible mistake.

"I'm not saying I'm doing that with you." she assured. Ulfric wasn't convinced.

"Believing you would only make me a fool. You not using this technique on me would make YOU a fool. Why wouldn't you use it on me? Wasn't I a prize contract?" Astrid's fear in never earning Ulfric's trust or love gave her panic.

"I have no reason to kill you anymore, what do I get out of it? No money. No clear conscious." Astrid continued on walking, Ulfric however struggled to catch up,

"That doesn't make any sense; you people kill for sheer pleasure and to appease Sithis, or the Night Mother, it's one of the two." stated Ulfric. Astrid only shook her head in disbelief at the accusation of it.

"Night Mother? Sithis? That's why you don't trust me?" she continued walking, her legs stomping with ever lift of the boot. No eye contact with Ulfric as he struggled to catch up with his questions. She continued,

"I'm in this job because I was left homeless, no one else but me, I was alone in Skyrim, no family, no friends. Until I made my first well deserved kill and found myself on the Night Mother's lap. I needed food and shelter, and the only way to maintain that was to kill. Whoever and whatever ordered at me I had to do." she turned to Ulfric with a final word, "I don't worship anyone. If the Divine's cared about me they wouldn't have left me like that, if I was a true server of Sithis I would enjoy this job. Real or not, I don't belong to any god, I belong to myself." No matter how much Ulfric wanted to protest this fact, she was respectfully right. He was a true subject of Talos, but if Talos really did care for his subjects why didn't he step in with the banishment of his revering? Or when the war kicked in? Or is mankind truly alone? We fight for them, why don't they fight for us?

"There it is! We should make haste while it's still light." advised Astrid.

"Why light?" asked Ulfric.

"The Falmer tend to sleep during light hours." she claimed. Ulfric looked over to Raldbthar. The city entrance looked very ancient, and the stone walls themselves represented much history, but what intrigued him most was the bronze door. The palace looked amazing but the bronze door looked like it held so many mysterious within. He was soon to discover them. They climbed the stairs up to the ancient doors, preparing themselves for whatever they may face inside. Finally they hit the bronze door but before Ulfric could proceed to open the doors, Astrid pulled him back,

"You're right, this may actually be really dangerous. Just tread carefully, don't make too much noise, and try not to touch any of the artifacts. Luckily we might get out this alive." Finally both of the young Nords used their strength to fully open the great doors and make their way inside. The doors were very heavy to push and the smell once they got inside drove vomit up their throats.

"Ugh! That smell is repulsive!" screeched Astrid, grabbing her nose for coverage from the stench. Ulfric couldn't even make it out; it was an odd smell of some gas. Like sulfur but worse, it was like the combination of dead bodies wrapped in rotten horse meat then coated with sulfur.

"Wretched." groaned Ulfric, "Is it the Falmer?" Astrid took a sniff at her own risk; she shook her head swiftly at the disgust of it,

"Worse I think. Let's just keep walking. Try to find your sword before I vomit." Besides the smell the ruin was the most magnificent thing Ulfric had ever seen. The walls gave off certain strength of history. The very floors they walked on had the foot prints of the ancients. He couldn't wait to tell Galmar his very first expedition into a Dwemer Ruin; this time Ulfric would be the one telling the stories. If however he got out alive, which was looking to be very likely. They cantered on further into the kingdom, finding nothing but wondrous sights and gold metals (that of course Astrid kept sneaking into her knapsack). As time advanced Ulfric was losing his patience,

"What exactly are we looking for?" he catechized. Astrid glanced around the ruin briefly, then faced Ulfric with an answer,

"A dark elf, any dark elf, he's the one I sold it too." Astrid stroked her chin; "I swear he should be here." as Ulfric's patience wore thin and the smell got stronger he began to study the sounds of the place. The dwarves were well known for advancing with technology; mechanical structure. The obsessive clanking of the machines and gears, the rhythm of it was almost enough to dance to. It was so in sync with the rest of the gear's moving like the whole place was a kingdom of mechanical music. It was a great echo throughout the ruin, causing a magnificent octave. Suddenly when he got lost in the sound Astrid wailed at him pointing behind him,

"Ulfric! Look out!" He twirled behind him to see a Dwarven devised spider crawling at him, a clinking sound of metal with each leg as it sped at him. In shock he pulled out his sword and lashed at it. The sword sent the thing flying hitting a wall then smashing to pieces. When he turned to Astrid he panicked pointing his sword behind her to reveal other Dwarven abominations,

"Think there's more?" she mumbled.

"There's more!" shouted Ulfric as he ran to grab her away. Behind Astrid came speeding two very fast Dwarven Spheres that looked as if they could out run a bear. There spheres twirling, causing to make them spin from side to side when attempting to go straight. Ulfric took every attempt to killing it but every blow was blocked and ever slice was impenetrable. Neither of them had a chance nor the time to figure out the weak spot of these things before being jabbed in the belly by their blades, so the only plausible thing to do was flee. However out running these things were another situation. Both were blocking the entrance from where Ulfric and Astrid came in so the only way to escape was to run further into the ruin. No matter how fast they both ran they could hear the menacing rattles of the Sphere's catching up. Ulfric found it useless, and due to his outlasting prowess he turned to them and threw his blade at the nearest. His aim was valid as it sliced through the things neck causing the metal defiler to shatter. Now he had no weapon, and the other one was coming at him immensely fast. Then Astrid decided to adapt the technique Ulfric used and threw her blade as well. Her aim was fortunate enough to grant her a kill. The Dwarven sphere toppled as well, that was the point for them to retrieve their blades.

"What in Oblivion were those things?" panicked Astrid as she knelt down to grab her dagger.

"Dwarven Spheres, read about them. Trust me there's more. So be on your guard." Ulfric knew a lot about the Dwemer, he used to be obsessed with them when young. He lost his interest in them when he left for the Greybeards; their legacy was a lot more appealing to Ulfric then what Dwarves did with metal. He learned of many machines the Dwarves constructed for their safety, but above all he learned of one particular machine. The most fearsome and most terrible machine the dwarves ever constructed. All he could do was pray to the Divine's they don't find themselves one, or death will be inevitable.

They ambled on into the ruin, keeping both eyes open and an arm wielding a weapon. This place was far more dangerous than they thought, and to think of what else they might find terrified them. Thinking they could find anything else worse they wandered into a room, only to find the dead corpses of many innocent travelers. The blood was like a pool, and the stench was horrible. They both stepped back, exploring their eyes on the corpses with no word and no breath.

"I'm going to have nightmares for weeks." Ulfric glowered.

"You see, this is why I can never understand the gods." Astrid stated. Ulfric glanced over at her affronted expression."People die like this, people being torn to pieces every day. We just got out of one of the bloodiest wars Tamriel has ever seen and they just watch all the horror with a satisfied belly of souls. I mean the war you're trying to rise is about some god who doesn't even lift a finger to help you!" What Ulfric was hearing was absurd, not even the Thalmor would disrespect the gods as she was.

"The gods risk their very own subjects to help us! They risk the souls of the righteous so that the Empire stands." protested Ulfric. She faced him finally putting away her gaze from the dead bodies,

"They risk what they want, not what they have to." Ulfric was at a loss of words, the only things he could come up with were insults at Astrid that totally assorted from the point.

"You're such a typical War-Nord." Astrid lamented, "You know nothing of pain and suffering, just the obsession of killing those who disagree with you, and you wonder why the Dark Brotherhood exists. To eliminate blowhards like you!" Her narcissistic aura made Ulfric remember why he almost killed her in the first place. Ulfric began to bellow at Astrid.

"I know nothing of pain and suffering?! Coming from a low-level cutthroat who only cares about killing so she can pay for her miserable life? My father is my pain and suffering! In fact he is the very reason why I'm even making this quest! So I can retrieve the very last thing of his I hold dearly, the thing you stole! So don't talk to me as if you know anything of pain and suffering, murderer!" Astrid's anger and troubling past came back all physically and with it she pushed Ulfric almost to the ground. Tears welt up in her eyes as she hollered at him, her voice shaky and un-controlled from emotions,

"I have a reason to kill! After what I went through!" her hot tears fell down her red cheeks, she gave up the fight of hiding them, "At least you had someone who cared about you! You had a family; I was stuck with my pig-headed uncle who didn't see me as anything else but a toy! Every day I got no hugs! No stories read to me, just him pinning me down and….!" Astrid choked on her words stopping them immediately. She covered her mouth; tears still falling from her green eyes. She took one look at Ulfric while whipping away her tears. Ulfric's eyes were full of dereliction from what he just heard. She then paced herself from that room leaving Ulfric to himself. Ulfric knew a murderer was born from something of a terrible past, but Astrid's was the worst of all. Being stuck with her uncle for who knows how long. Knowing at the end of each day what was inevitably coming. She was right, compared to Astrid's past he had it easy. Plus the fact through all those years of being abused by her uncle she somehow ended up to be as normal as she was. Most women in her spot would grow up with their mind lost; probably the type living in the Ratway Warrens. She was doing better than Ulfric did when his father died, along with the torture from the Dominion. No matter what her occupation was Ulfric had to respect her, and give a little empathy for her. He already did care about her, even though he was not crazy enough to admit it just yet. He just wanted her to know… that he trusts her. Telling him something like that was enough proof for Ulfric. She had some light in her, no matter everything she's been through and that made Ulfric want to get to know her. For now he had to catch up with her and apologize, the way he acted towards her was appalling. He made his way out of the room to find her immediately.

When he found her she was standing over a metal railing watching the buildings but at a closer look she was actually reading a letter.

"Astrid, I..." spoke Ulfric as he approached, not wanting to invade her personal space he kept distant. She looked up slightly, she could hear him perfectly… she just didn't want to listen.

"I'm sorry. I had no right to discriminate you for what you have to do. It was…" Ulfric paused, "It was foolish." he meant every word. She didn't answer nor looked back.

"And after what you told me you have proven yourself. I trust you in every sense of the word." Astrid's pain was going dim, "You're more to me that just a cutthroat. You're much… more." murmured Ulfric.

Astrid could not help a brief smile but she didn't feel like Ulfric was allowed to see it, so she kept her head down. The feeling Ulfric gave her wanted to express itself, but her fear was clouding it. It was a certain feeling she never really had before. She loved every moment of it, Ulfric gave her the feeling of appreciation she never once had. The feeling grew as she thought about him, soon it began to ache. She was far too scared to admit love, but far too deep with the feeling to claim it wasn't. It was no feeling of infatuation, or obsessive charm. It was the feeling of wanting Ulfric to be there at every turn in her life. Every turn so they can somehow fight their way out of it or embrace it. The feeling you get when you're used to the world turning, then it just stops. You're not sure what to do. Panic? Hide? Instead you take the one thing you love the most and hold on to it as if it's the one thing you can depend on to save you, to make sure you're away from danger at all costs. For many people its family, a lover or a parent. For Astrid considering she had none, it was Ulfric. Ulfric was the only thing she knew to keep the world spinning, to keep her feet on the ground. He was her change; he was her savior from this life. He was her strong Nord warrior to sweep her off her feet. Every emotion was shouting at her, telling her to turn around and kiss him, or hug him. Though at the very least she would talk to him.

"You see this note?" She turned to him handing him the note she procured herself near the steps down to the Falmer tents. He generously took the note from her hands and explored the writing,

_"Ralos,_

I've discovered the seller of your particular sword you sent me.  
Many thanks, but it appears we found conflict.  
She is invested in my little clan and due to my lethal expedition,  
her new companionship she holds, she'll use you as an asset to my plans.  
My associates (not said-clan members) shall be the ones to deliver this note  
and in turn end your miserable life. Business has been good but I'm afraid  
all expenses must be paid for.

Hail Beothiah!

Yours regretfully,  
Amaric"

Then at the bottom of the letter was spattered blood dry from time, the letter even stunk of death.

"You see that name? At the bottom?" asked Astrid. Ulfric studied the name "Amaric" in his head, but he knew no one of such a title.

"I don't know that name." stated Ulfric. Astrid rolled her eyes and tapped the paper,

"Of course you don't, I do! Our sanctuary hasn't had a leader in years. Amaric is the closest thing to a leader… this is so curious. What would he want with your sword? Why wouldn't he want me knowing about it? Who's Ralos? Most importantly, why does it say "Hail Beothiah"? Perhaps…" Astrid took a moment to think looking out at the open area of the Dwemer Ruin.

"Perhaps he's betraying us?" stated Astrid, "One of the brothers will know… I'm sure."

"Well that's all very well, but what of my sword?" Requested Ulfric. If Ulfric had to deal with the fact his sword was taken again, the stress would be overwhelming.

"You're not telling me…"

"Sorry." interrupted Astrid, "I'm afraid we're going to have to make a few more stops." Ulfric let out a groan of exhausted frustration. Ulfric missed many things back at the Palace, but most particularly he missed sleep. He wanted his sword so he could lie down and just sleep without having to worry about his death. He did trust Astrid, but the mission had put him in paranoia. He just wanted to go home and be a Jarl. Now he had to trudge along to the god's know where and try to get his sword which should have been in his palm by now. Ready to start an uproar about this situation to Astrid he suddenly heard a rather disgusting, curdling noise coming from one of the Falmer tents from below. It was unappealing and alerted him and Astrid. As they both stared on at the tents they witnessed a pale as snow hand clench on to the side of the tent. It then peaked its disgusting head through it's small, dark domain. Both knew about the Falmer and their blindness, so they both stood exactly where they were… no movement or speech. One single cough could alert one, their senses other than their eyes was fantastic. The mangled elf took several sniffs, and twitched it's ears. It's swollen red eyes blinked cautiously, as if blinking were a sense. It was trying to detect any sign of life aside from Falmer, and it was sure it got something. Astrid then gripped her hand around Ulfric's upper arm and whispered as silently as wind in his ear,

"Turn around slowly, and we'll get out of here." both turned their heads back to the hallway where they came in, only to see it now flooding with Falmer. They didn't seem to notice them but if the two stood there any longer they no doubt would. It seems it was wake up hours for the forgotten elves,

"What do we do now?" whispered Ulfric, his lips right up to Astrid's ear in attempt of being unheard. Astrid looked down at the site downstairs the Falmer seemed to build themselves. There were only three tents residing, and the Falmer that had been alerted was back in its hut no doubt sleeping. Near this settlement was another stair well leading down to a bronze door that (if they were lucky) may lead them out of Raldbthar. Astrid took her chances, gently she grasped Ulfric's hand and with a few body gestures implying to "sneak by the Falmer" he caught on. Together they did their best to sneak by the twisted beasts as best they could. Astrid was an expert with sneaking skill, yet Ulfric lacked the very thing. Inside two of the tents lied sleeping Falmer, and they were only a few steps down the stairs and soon they would be side by side with the tents. This whole procedure relied on stealth, without it the Falmer will surely awake. Due to their sharp hearing and smell they could detect any villain near. Sweat began to spout on Astrid's forehead, her nerves were jangled and uneasy due to the recent moment she had shared with Ulfric, and now she wasn't sure she would be able to make it. Astrid's shrouded boots gave her a silent step, but Ulfric's clunky plate steel armor could be heard for miles. The procedure got more delicate with every second. However the progress they were so far making was good, they were half way to the bronze door. They made their way down the steps, taking each step with caution. Astrid gripped Ulfric's hand tighter as they made their way. Thinking they were to be caught luck had delivered them to the bronze door and they were finally safe from the Falmer menace. Both let out a deep sigh of relief and attempted to open the door, and then found their sneaking was all in vain. Opening the door was like running into that fort screaming their heads off then topping it off with poking a Falmer repeatedly. The door made a horrible screech when opened, like the wail of ancient rust. Every Falmer came clamoring into that area wielding every weapon imaginable. They were like roaches; piling on to each other, running and screaming at the two Nords, shoving each other into walls, all this just trying to get to them. Ulfric immediately pushed Astrid into the other room (which they were hoping was outside) he got in himself then slammed the door to his best strength. It made a great crashing noise as Ulfric closed the door, just thinking about how much it weighed made Ulfric even more exhausted. The Falmer then smashed on the door, hundreds of them, as if their lives depended on getting inside. Screams and screeches from the deranged monsters echoed throughout the ruin. Even outside the place in the cold, people could hear them howling.

Yet no matter how much they pushed the door, hit it, slammed on it, it would not budge. If one man could open the door with some strength, I'm sure many Falmer could. Ulfric tested this fact out at his own risk, when he attempted to open the door it never even unstuck a little from it's place. The door was locked… and he had no idea how it could have just locked itself when they came in. He remembered in some old books that Dwemer made these types of doors as traps, usually to keep something in… so whatever it was could eliminate those who came in. Astrid was in a puzzle; she knew nothing of the Dwemer nor cared,

"Why is the door locked all of a sudden?" she questioned. No response from Ulfric but his analyzing of the rest of the room they seemed to have stuck themselves in. The room was like many of the Dwemer rooms they were already in, it was hot, musty, and had that horrible smell but stronger. It was detailed with bronze metals and gold metals (walls, steps, floors ect.) except it looked more like a hall. The place was long and wide but it looked like it lead down to yet another bronze door, possibly leading outside. There was an upstairs railing all around the hall, on both sides the railing abided. The steps up to this high level of the hall were residing next to the door where they came in, yet they didn't go up. One of those mechanical spiders they feared was up there. So all they had to do was pray that the door on the other side would actually open.

"Come, let's see if this opens." advised Ulfric, they stepped away from the rumbling door being heard of only screams and thumps and rushed to the door. The hall echoed their footsteps and breathes as they jogged to it. The place was so wide and hallow, it was likely a very powerful kingdom once. Half way to the door Ulfric took a final look around the Ruin, just to remember some of the most special parts. Then horror hit him when he saw a great standing machine standing frozen and well placed against the right wall in the middle of the hall. It was not alive, but imagining it alive he doubted anything could stop it. It was the thing he feared the most in these ruins, something he hoped not to run into. It was a Dwarven Centurion and was as big as life. It looked as if it was being held to the wall and that it would take a simple spark to bring it alive. Astrid joined Ulfric in view of this great machine.

"You think… that thing was ever alive once?" she murmured. Ulfric didn't really want to know, if it was alive once it could likely come alive again. He ambled away from it certain that staring at it forever wouldn't get his sword back. Once they got to the door they noticed the steps to the upstairs railing was beside this door two. They ignored the intriguing steps and attempted to open the door. Though just as they feared the door was locked as well too. No lock pick could open these doors, perhaps a lever or a button.

"Damn, looks like we're going to have to scour this place for a solution to open this door." Ulfric looked at the steps once again and had a decent idea,

"I'll go upstairs and look for anything to open this door, just stay down here and yell if you see any ideas." he paced the steps then turned back to Astrid,

"Or anything that beats normal, like if that Centurion over there starts moving." he continued his way upstairs and then reached the high level of this hall. There was nothing upstairs or down, he looked around for anything and noticed a lever on the other railing across the hall. Luckily there was a bridge he could cross to get to the left side of the hall. The bridge was made of stone and metal so it was more than safe to cross. Astrid looked up at Ulfric and down to her level again, this place gave her goose bumps, the terrible kind. She glanced over at the Centurion, waiting any moment for it to charge at her. To shred her apart with those Dwarven metal clubs forged to its arms. To slice her in half with its great axe.

"See anything?" she shouted up to Ulfric. He didn't respond, awaiting her response she reached into her knapsack. The basket Gabriella had given them along with all the supplies was squished in the compartment. The bag was big enough for it, but the stiff fit mangled her bag. She reached into it for the note Gabriella also gave her. She knew it was now the most appropriate time to read it, it was written neatly,

_"I shall alert the others of the quest at hand,  
Today it is the 23rd of First Seed.  
On the 27th, the brothers I will gather to assist you  
will be on their way to carry out the death of  
High King Torygg. Along with the letter I shall write to the Blue Palace  
about suspected assassination. I am giving you four days to find  
Ulfric's sword before myself, Veezera, Nazir and Amaric arrive.  
Be warned, the brothers do not understand you as I do.  
If you still keep Ulfric's company by the time they arrive they will  
kill him. We will lose our asset to our plans, I cannot tell the others of  
your thorough ideas due to Amaric's forced rules. Please make haste, sister!"_

Astrid had almost forgotten all about her devious plan. Now as the tide has seemed to be settling, she wasn't sure to see it through. She loves her family and wanted to do what was best for all of them. But using Ulfric as bait to get a cheap kill changed Astrid's mind. They were not much her family, but they were the closest thing she had to it. The feelings for Ulfric that she had were stopping her from ever doing something as such to him. She didn't want to lead her family astray; she cared a lot for them. Nazir and Veezera were like the big brothers she never had, and Gabriella was a sister she could love and trust along with little Babette. She didn't want to leave her family or Ulfric into betrayal. The very last thing she wanted to do was kill Ulfric, lead him to his death while they stole the kill he has been itching for ever since his father died. There were so many morals clouding her better judgment. She had four days, four days until she tells Ulfric the truth, that he can't kill the High King… not yet. Not until the letter written by Gabriella to the steward in Solitude was passed and forgotten. She had only four days to call this whole thing off before many people she loves died. She started this whole mess, now she had to fix it.

Ulfric studied the lever, he was not so sure about pulling it yet. Who knows what it could do? For all he knew it could resurrect the Centurion or open the door so the Falmer can get in. Or it could open the door, open the door for the Falmer and resurrect the Centurion all combined. Ulfric gulped, he had no idea what to do. This was the only lever, and it was the only solution they had.

"Well I found a lever…." shouted Ulfric, Astrid immediately put away her note. "But I'm not sure what it'll open. It's the only one." Astrid looked up at Ulfric then back at the door with the Falmer still pounding on it. She took an agitated guess,

"Maybe it'll open the door...?" she questioned, "Just try it, if it's our only solution." Ulfric took one final glance at the Centurion. He swore once he pulled this lever it would come alive due to some unfair act of fate. He then looked at the door that needed open, perhaps if luck passed by him today it would open. He survived the two Dwarven Spheres, Falmer and even the several werewolves. Luck was his guardian, so he took a chance. With both gauntlets gripped on the lever he took a breath and pulled. It took a lot of strength to switch it, he buckled his knees. Eventually it made a clank and the lever was successfully switched. He looked up from the lever as soon as possible to be relieved. The door was open, and the Centurion was in the exact place it was before. He beamed a grin; finally they may actually have a chance of getting out. He yelled down to Astrid in a sunny mood,

"What's within the door? You see anything?" Astrid looked in, and her face went to a rather upsetting nature.

"There's another lever… This place is just a small room with a lever in the middle." she groaned. Ulfric could see into the room, his disappointment annihilated his joy.

"I'll jerk it." added Astrid, Ulfric called out for Astrid,

"No! Wait!" Astrid wasn't listening, Ulfric clenched his hands to the Dwarven metal railing, fear and anger engulfed him. Suddenly a clank came from inside the room; she had successfully pulled the lever.

"A door is opening, but it's going painfully slow…" she advocated. The door was more of a rock plank; it was slowly shifting down a slot vertically to the way most likely out. It was very slow, it would most likely take 3 minutes before it was anywhere near to jump or climb over. The reason why it was so slow was to take up time for something else to be unlocked by this particular lever. Suddenly behind Astrid, and right before Ulfric's eyes he had a perfect view as he looked downstairs to see the great Centurion unlocking itself from the shafts it was stuck to.

"Damn it! I just knew it!" shouted Ulfric, it ripped itself from the wall and took two giant and solid steps on the hard and ancient Dwarven stone floor. It adjusted its two limbs of weapons. One designed as a great war hammer with a spike on the tip, the other an axe larger than Wuuthrad. The thing looked impenetrable, indestructible. Ulfric was just in a shock trying to think of killing it, how could he? Astrid was immediately alerted to the sounds of a moving metal giant, let alone the stomps of it shook the very ground. She turned to it in helpless fear; she was stuck in a small room with no way out. The thing came stomping at her head on, until it noticed Ulfric just above him on the higher level. Astrid took every chance she had to get out of that room and run, Ulfric however tried to avoid every swipe and smash from the Centurions mighty weapons. Then as the thing saw it was helpless to smash him from up there, he released steam as hot and deadly as the sun.

"Ulfric!" screamed Astrid, Ulfric bolted to the wall, collapsing in a huddle position to avoid the steam. It luckily didn't touch him, but at least now he knew where the horrible smell was coming from when they first came in. The steam was causing the wretched smell they have had to deal with this whole voyage in this place.

"Hey!" shouted Astrid; the great machine took notice as a gold ingot came flying at the things head. It bolted after Astrid instantly, shaking the ground with every stomp. Astrid ran, it was the only thing she could do, it was her only advantage. All she could do for the time being was leg it back and forth down the hall as fast as she could until the door was open enough to squeeze through. The hall was long and wide, it had plenty of running space, but she wasn't so sure how long she could go on. She bustled down the hall to the door they came in through, her legs carrying her like wind. Every born assassin must learn how to run with the speed of lightening if they wish to survive, Astrid was amongst the fastest. The Centurion's heavy built body was clunky and slow, but made a tremendous rumble whenever it took a step towards her. She could feel it on her trail, it wasn't anywhere close, but she had to make a sharp turn in order to avoid any steam or swipe attacks when turning the corner back to the door currently opening. Ulfric was existent in all this, he could only think of one way to kill this thing. He was still on the railing trying to find a good point to jump on the Centurion and then drive a blade through its Dynamo core. The Dynamo core was installed right in the middle of its chest and was the things basic power source. No matter how many times Ulfric was ready to jump; the thing kept running after Astrid. Though yelling at Astrid to slow down would be like yelling at her to kill herself.

Astrid was getting to the point of fatigue, she was losing breathe and losing faith. The Centurion was beginning to catch up and the rumble of the ground got ever more controlling. She used every bit of strength left to bolt to the small room. Pushing her legs from the ground made them feel as if they were ready to fall off. The rumble of the floor soon became too much and she lost balance. Astrid collapsed due to not being able to sustain herself on the ground. She fell on both her hands; her legs however were like pieces of dead skin. She couldn't move them after such a stressful pressure put on them. The hall was very long and wide, and the panic driven into her by being chased by a giant machine made her run as fast as a saber cat (or even faster) for 2 whole minutes. The thing slowed its pace when it noticed her on the ground. Astrid was in no position to give up, she crawled. She crawled like her life depended on it, because really it did. Astrid was more than a few meters away from the thing until it released its steam onto her. The steam only stretched up to her left leg due to her crawling, yet the pain was nowhere near lucky. Her very flesh on her leg was sizzling off; all she could do was scream.

"WAAAGGHHHH! ULFRIIIC!" Ulfric's fear for Astrid's safety punched him like the fist of a troll. He could not simply stand there and watch Astrid get killed.

"No! Hey! You!" he screamed at the thing, not having anything to throw at him. Either way the Centurion noticed his arms waving. It struck a blow once again at the upper floor and broke off a large bit of stone.

Even though Astrid was in the worst kind of pain, her leg felt as if it were on fire she still somehow got up. She clenched her teeth and let the tears fall from her eyes as she allowed pressure on the leg and limp with her dagger in hand. She was trying her best to hit the Dynamo core, for that was one thing she knew about Dwarves. Suddenly the Centurion took notice of Astrid's painful efforts and struck a blow of his hammer to her stomach making her fly back to the wall and smacking her back on it. She collapsed to the ground unable to move. The blow was the most painful thing to ever happen to her, blood spilled from her mouth and her back was already swelling. She couldn't feel her whole body, she couldn't move at all. Her stomach agonized the worst, it felt as if her ribs were shattered and stabbing inside her organs. She could barely even feel her leg compared to these injuries. She was certain they would lead her to her death.

"NOOO!" bellowed Ulfric. He lost any respect for his life at that moment; all he cared for was Astrid and protecting her from the Centurion. He didn't care if he had to jump in front of the deadly steam. As long as Astrid was safe and in his arms as they escaped he would do anything. He jumped recklessly onto the back of the Centurion, it was bewildered. The thing was like a riding a giant, it twirled and hit every wall. It swooshed both its great weapons over its head trying to get Ulfric. Ulfric could only hold on for as long as he could before he was pulled down. Then he took one final glance at Astrid, she was broken and huddled. He couldn't stand the sight of watching her like that. The only way to help her was to kill the thing; he would not lose Astrid, not like he's lost everything else. He then unsheathed his sword and bashed the things head with it releasing off much anger. He then climbed his way on the things shoulder. The Centurion was now harder to hold on to then before; it repeatedly hit itself against a wall to get Ulfric off. Ulfric was in no position to give up now. He gripped his sword and let out a bellowing warrior scream. He raised his sword and with determination and prowess he pierced his steel sword into the Centurion's Dynamo core. The thing jolted and the core sparked and blasted inside of him. Ulfric had no hope in pulling the sword out, so with his sword he let the thing fall. He then pushed himself from its broken body before it smashed to the ground. Ulfric landed with his knees bent and watched the fallen Centurion crumble onto the ground, the metal parts of the great machinery flying and clashing onto the ground. A few final sparks lit its body then went out, it was dead. He walked over to the fallen Centurion and pulled out its Dynamo core with his sword in it. His sword however was broken; all he wanted was the Dynamo core. His very first Centurion was now going to be remembered for the rest of his life. He put the core into his knapsack and through his sword away. Then he remembered Astrid,

He raced over to her and pulled from his knapsack rags and potions, he removed his gauntlets. He fell to his knees before her and gently lifted her head up and rested it in his arms. He grabbed her hand and looked down at her face, she looked back up at him with blood dripping from her mouth, and he took a rag and wiped it away. She smiled weakly,

"Is… is..." she coughed and sighed, "Is it dead?" Ulfric nodded, not sure what to say to her. He was so afraid of crying he couldn't speak. He was afraid of losing her. Astrid raised her hand to Ulfric's cheek, he let out a sigh and she softly caressed it. Ulfric placed his hand gently on hers, looking deep in her eyes. She smiled, her eyes wet with tears and stressed with fear. Yet when they met Ulfric's, it all disappeared. Her pain was dormant in Ulfric's arms and the warmth of his hand against hers made it feel like a dream. That was when it happened, a spark they felt the minute she looked up at him and he looked at her. Right there in the Dwarven Ruin, in one of Skyrim's most terrible places their love for each other was born. A love they both never knew, and got to experience together. Ulfric's tears were born as well; he let one fall down his cheek as he looked down to her. It was the love he had for her, he loved her.

"You saved me…" she murmured,

"I'll always save you." smiled Ulfric. She felt a breeze slowly drift in that place, no drift from outside. It was imaginary and only she and Ulfric could feel it sweeping by.

"Like I need to do now, I must get you out of here." he then grabbed several rags from his knapsack and wrapped them around Astrid's leg. Her leg looked terrible, the skin was peeling off and the red flesh was the only thing shown. Ulfric knew if he didn't have anyone to treat these wounds Astrid could lose her leg forever. She let out a yelp of the sudden pain,

"It's okay. Its alright." he assured her. Soon as they were tied on the wound, he reached his arms under her and lifted her up. His left arm was under her neck and his right under her knees. He picked up Astrid's dagger and put it in her sheath for her. With that he made his way to the small room and was pleased to see the door fully open, it led to another bronze door. He pushed it open with Astrid in his arms and went through. Instead of icy tundra and a sunny sky he saw something he only read about and never saw. It was Blackreach, the place that connected some of the most important Dwarven cities. Glowing mushrooms and floating torch bugs dotted this landscape, this black, underground legend of a place glowed with so much history. It was a wonderful sight, but Astrid's injuries were far too dire to enjoy it. He read that Blackreach does have a door to the outside world if you simply keep going straight and follow the trail. His worst fear was the creatures that abide within. He could already see one down the steps, it was a Dwarven Sphere. He didn't care anymore; he would run if he had to. He didn't go this far to get killed by some metal piece of junk. Ulfric looked down at Astrid with fear in his eyes,

"Run… it… won't hurt me." she mumbled through her weak lips. Ulfric listened; he held on to Astrid tightly and bolted through Blackreach with no weapon, just Astrid and himself. The Dwarven Sphere noticed instantly and went spinning at them. Ulfric didn't let anything catch up to him, not even something as fast as a Dwarven Sphere. As he run past the marshes a few arrows went flying at him from Falmer bows. He avoided them as well; he just kept running and never looking back. Astrid was all that mattered in this situation. Then a couple of Chaurus came crawling out of their holes and went after them as well. Falmer, Chaurus and a Dwarven Sphere were all coming after Ulfric and Astrid. She held on to Ulfric so tightly she felt as if she could never let go. Ulfric would never let go either, even if they had to face another Centurion. He could see the door; it was only a bridge away. He looked down at Astrid as his feet raced over the bridge. She was looking up at the black and blue cavern ceilings, they glowed magnificently. Her sight blurred lightly from such weakness, yet she never closed them. For she was afraid if she did she would never wake. Ulfric finally reached the lever to lead them out. He pulled it still with Astrid in both arms. Suddenly a door opened a lot faster than the one in the Dwemer Ruin. He pushed through it with all strength and was finally greeted with the warm bliss of the sunset. He smiled and was relieved to smell fresh air again. Astrid let out a painful whimper of pain. Ulfric immediately sat down with her. The cold of the snow made her burned leg feel the slightest bit better, but everything else still scorched with agony. She kept crying in pain, Ulfric wasn't sure what else to do. He pulled out a potion from his knapsack.

"Drink this." he requested, she opened her mouth and leaned back as Ulfric poured the elixir into her lips. She swallowed as if it was agonizing and let out a sigh of relief. Astrid was twitching all over; her hands were shaking and eyes wandering to every sight. Her bottom lip opened slowly as it shook erratically,

"I...I've put a lot of thought into how I would die…. never thought it be like this."  
"You're not going to die." Ulfric confirmed, "I promise you I'm going to make this better." Astrid smiled once again and placed her hand upon Ulfric's cheek.

"You should know…" she choked, "You should know you are the happiest thing that's ever happened to me." Ulfric smiled and let out a sigh, he felt the very same. He could not express it for it was impossible how much he cared for Astrid. But he would always try; if Astrid could pull through he would always try to be everything she wanted.

"You should know… that I love you." she smiled, "I'll always love you… always." Astrid's eye lids then covered her green irises and she fell into a deep sleep. Ulfric could not deny a smile of hope in her, he smiled as tears fell gently from his eyes. He leaned in and kissed Astrid gingerly on the forehead.

"I love you too, Astrid." he whispered, his cheek lying on her forehead, "Don't you let go." Ulfric's hot tears came flowing down his face. He gripped her hand tightly and held her close to him as if she was about to float away. Her long blonde hair blew gently in the wind, and the smell of strawberries came up. It made Ulfric swoon; it made him want to hold on to her forever and never let go until she wakes up. Astrid was more to Ulfric than a cutthroat or anything, more to him than just a girl. She was his gravity. She was the objective that kept him from losing his goodness, and he was hers as well. Both kept each other that they are, they kept each other happy and kept each other dreaming. Ulfric wanted to feel that forever, more than anything he wanted Astrid to be okay. He had nothing to help her with but potions and bread. Carrying her to the next Hold could take hours and it would hurt her. All he could now was pray for a miracle and hope she mends. Losing Astrid would be it for Ulfric, he would have no one. He closed his eyes and whispered so softly not even the wind could hear,

"Don't leave me."


	6. Awoken to Velvet

Trauma was incomprehensible for Ulfric in the moment as he did everything in his ability to aid Astrid's lethal wounds. He dug absently in his and Astrid's bags using every ingredient, potion and cloth he could find to help her.

"No, No…" he kept repeating. His fear was turning psychopathic and soon he would be all out of hope. Even then he began to see her skin pale and rings around her eyes begin to darken. Her breathe was becoming more faintly for she was losing far too much blood and her heart was crawling for life; Astrid was dying. Ulfric knew nothing was helping, and no potion could cure her wounds. The bitter thought that Ulfric could lose Astrid was beginning to engulf his mind. He fought the thought like it was any other beast, but soon the realization that luck had finally grew tired of him arrived. Ulfric was in a state of no hope and with this conflict, he lost his emotions.

"I'm sorry…" wept Ulfric. His lost sword was no longer even a thought nor was anything else in his life full of brutal politician. Just the beautiful, blonde and broken girl that lay almost lifeless in his arms. He rested his head upon her forehead and let tears fall that he didn't regret or think about. This torture of losing everyone he loved was like someone ripping and thrashing apart inside him. There was deep empty sorrow inside weeping, then a great anger lighting a torch in his head. The emotional feeling was great pain that made him realize that Astrid was going to die and there was literally nothing he could do to save her. This pain brought him to his knees in desperation; it brought him to prayer,

"Please, Divines…" he whimpered, not removing his head from hers. He stroked her golden hair, "Forgive her, save her. Let her know that you care for Nirn and that you care for us. There is no other wish, please let her see the sun another day. I so humbly implore you…" Ulfric listened to the wind pull the snow in swaying swirls; he listened to all the scenery around him as he held Astrid. He was not ashamed to admit to himself that he loved her and he would sit for hours in the cold just holding her until the Divines took her. The thought of them taking her made him clench his teeth in such great hurt. He couldn't even remember when he cried this hard, was there anyone as important to him besides his father and Astrid? Yet he sat in the wilderness having to live through the pain of possibly losing them both. The fate was unfair and unjustified, yet somehow it all turned him into a better man.

Suddenly off in the distance he heard the rumbling and thundering of an upcoming carriage coming up along the road. He slowly lifted his head up from hers and spotted a simpleton coach coming up along the road. A spark of hope came up and lit up a desperate smile at the honest folk. The minute the coach saw the tragic scene of the young man crying over a wounded woman's body he halted his carriage horse and bellowed,

"By the Nine! I'm here to help, what happened!" the man sped over and collapsed on the other side of Astrid panicked.

"We were…" Ulfric was in a state of shock, he spoke unclearly, "In that Dwemer Ruin… Dwarven Centurion…."

"Come now, son. You're safe now." The man smiled kindly. He looked to be a wizard of some sort telling from his attire. Unlike many of the wizards Ulfric met, his demeanor was innocent.

"Get in my carriage and I'll get you two to Kynesgrove. I can heal the poor girl there… her wounds look severe but manageable." Ulfric gratefully nodded and almost grinned, although he was far too exhausted to express his kindness and the wizard was well aware.

"I'll carry her, you just climb on in." Ulfric pushed himself off his knees which felt like he was kneeling for years. The fatigue and wounds on Ulfric almost made it impossible for him to amble over to the carriage. Luckily the old wizard had already set Astrid comfortably in and he was able to assist Ulfric to the carriage.

"Thank… you." praised Ulfric weakly as he crawled himself next to Astrid and laid down beside her to keep her warm. The man had already covered her in saber cat fur, but Ulfric felt as if he still had to hold her in order for her to stay alive.

"You just rest; we'll be in Kynesgrove before you know it." He laid himself down on the wood of the carriage and looked up at the sky already filling with stars. The cold air was beginning to stir in the wind and the sky was dimming. He heard the man holler out to the horse and the carriage rattled and rumbled on the hard road as they were suddenly off. He could feel the motivation of the horses pull them and hear the man coughing just above them as he drove the carriage. All this compelled Ulfric into sleep. He wasn't sure if Astrid was going to still be alive by the time they arrived at Kynesgrove or if they could even trust this wizard. He was just far too exhausted to even stop and think about it. He looked over at Astrid's unconscious slumber and the moment he saw breath erupt from her nostrils, he smiled, and his body finally shut down and rested.

Ulfric never usually had the luxuries of dreams, but in this resting he had a familiar moment erupt in his mind. The room was black and white as he walked in crying for an unidentified reason. It was this moment he realized he was just a child. He noticed his father crouching over a bed drowning in his tears, holding a small and slender hand. Ulfric watched as his father slowly dropped this hand attached to a beautiful woman with long flowing blonde hair. Her fair face remained still and cold as the very snow that lay outside their castle. Ulfric himself approached the bed with his father and he soon remembered. The woman was his mother, and young Ulfric climbed onto the bed hastily.

"Son, get down!" screamed his father. Ulfric jolted and then was settled by the soothing voice of his ill and dying mother,

"No, let him stay with me." His father breathed out and nodded at his wife's last will. She gently grabbed her son's hand and with a weak smile she whimpered,

"Don't you ever forget Ulfric Stormcloak… don't you ever forget that in every choice you make… someone is watching you. In every good deed you do someone is smiling at you. In every crime, a mother weeps. Don't forget me, dearest. For I am always watching you and I will always love you." A tear gently slid down her cheek as she gave her last grin to her son. That was the day the Lady of Windhelm passed, the day Ulfric cried for the first time. That was the day Ulfric swore to himself that he would serve in war and become a man his parents would be proud of. Something inside him created great guilt for forgetting his mother and disgracing his father by losing the sword. It was this moment he had the vision of his mother and father and thought this could someday be Astrid and himself. Not in the same scenario, but in the same place. Could they really let go of this burden of being a warrior and being an assassin to live a normal life? Perhaps they could start a family with each other and try to forget the damage of the past. Ulfric studied this idea and was actually willing to consider it, maybe it was about time to stop grueling over those who were loved and make a new family. He had taken his first step with falling inlove with Astrid, but was his mantle of being a warrior ever to be forgotten?

Suddenly Ulfric's eyes awoke to a side table with a lit candle. He jumped in panic unsure of where he was for his mind was a blur. He looked around and found he was on an abundantly comfortable bed in a warm and darkened room only being lit by the dimming flame. There was also a plate of food with a note placed upon the goat cheese. He gingerly picked it up and read the fine printing,

_Feeling well rested? Come out and embrace the day!_

Ulfric's eye brow raised to the unexpected brief cheerfulness expressed in the note. That's when Ulfric remembered the wizard who had luckily came to their rescue. He then panicked at the thought of Astrid and the fact she was a brink away from death. He jumped from his bed and then noticed he was in clothes he didn't leave in. Instead of clanking metal he was in Mourner's clothes and he noticed his flesh wounds were stitched and healing. Curiosity abounded Ulfric as he opened the door to an open staircase. He smelt the welcoming aroma of eggs and pheasant roasting downstairs. Ulfric hadn't eaten well for days and he was famished. As he carefully tiptoed down the steps he heard a grown man rumbling on about something he couldn't clearly hear, and a girl giggling. This quickened his pace and he finally made his way down the bottom floor. He immediately saw a woman cleaning a table which looked to be an eating area. The moment the woman witnessed him she cantered over to him with a gracious smile.

"You're up! We were beginning to wonder!" she suddenly began brushing and gripping him all over which left Ulfric amazingly confused and uncomfortable. She cackled,

"You look very healthy, Wuunferth did an amazing job! I'm..."

"Where is Astrid? Is she okay?" Ulfric looked over the woman's shoulder and saw a doorway which led a way to the kitchen. The shuffling from inside the room were beginning to faint when he opened his mouth,

"Um… she's" then out of the kitchen came the man he saw that night outside the ruin. "Wuunferth" was the name of his rescuer; the simple mage came with a content smile.

"Where is she?" Ulfric demanded, grateful for their hospitality, he still insisted to know Astrid's current state. Wuunferth grin turned to the kitchen and out came a face the minute he saw it… his breathe stopped.

"Grumpy Jarl's like breakfast in bed… don't they?" beamed Astrid. She gently rested herself on the side of the doorway. She looked variously different from the last time they saw each other. Her long blonde hair was no longer held up it simply hung down her shoulders. The hair framed her face and brought a paralyzing beauty. Her eyes glowed greener than they ever did and her light smile topped off the perfect visualization. Her armor was absent at the moment, instead she wore a common blue villager dress. Some bruises were still fading away, other than that it looked as if what happened at the Dwemer Ruin was just a dream. Astrid looked… dazzling to Ulfric, he swooned silently as she came into the room.

"Well, were gon' go check on those eggs." stated Wuunferth, leaving with the woman. They shuffled out of the room and left Ulfric and Astrid all alone in the eating area. Ulfric was debating the fact he should start a conversation or simply tackle her with a hug. The whole situation was painfully awkward.

"You saved my life, you know. I may have been dying but I was still awake." smiled Astrid, her hands folded as she stepped closer. Ulfric smirked lightly looking down at his feet. Soon Astrid was just an inch from him and he had no choice but to look up and see her. He immediately got lost in her natural beauty and let out a deep sigh. He could have sworn himself he would stare into her eyes all day if he could. Ulfric didn't respond for he had nothing to reply with.

"So why'd you do it?" she questioned gently, lightly placing her hand on his chest. Ulfric spoke deeply with a voice only she could apprehend.

"Still trying to find that out…" he stated with a hoarse voice full of admiration towards Astrid. Her lips parted so softly and both ends of her lips formed a smile. In this moment she reached herself up to Ulfric and combined her lips among his once again. This time the moment could be as eternal as they wanted. Ulfric's arms pulled her in as close to him as he could and his hands calmly rubbed up and down her back. She placed a hand on his cheek and the other through the back of his hair. It felt as if this moment was long overdue. The familiar feeling of their first kiss came up and just like then their lips moved softly in sync with each other. Ulfric slightly lifted Astrid's feet from the floor and slowly back down again while getting so consumed in the moment. He could feel her lips smile against his, he continuously kissed her. She softly spoke through his lips as they embraced,

"Thank you." they parted their lips and then embraced in a hug that seemed so comforting at the moment. Neither of them knew why they were showing such emotions and both were far too scared to put it into thought. So they simply relished in it with no thought and no regret; they made each other feel strangely happy despite their differences.

"Food's ready!" screamed Wuunferth from the kitchen. No doubt both were equally famished and were dying for food they both sped to kitchen. Having a meal with these two kind folks was very strange for Ulfric and Astrid. Ulfric always had meals by himself whilst in his war room, and Astrid was always on contracts the very minute she became an assassin so the place she'd eat is at an Inn. None of them truly sat down and had a meal with people who enjoyed to converse. The meal wasn't extraordinary, but it was still food and at the peak of their hunger it was certainly an appetizing dish. Neither of them even spoke once to anyone or each other once they tasted the food and drinks, for they were far to consumed with trying to dissolve it.

"Go on! Eat as much as you like. Who knows the last time you two sat down and had a decent meal." encouraged Wuunferth. Ulfric settled himself to offer the kind man his thoughts,

"Thank you very much for everything. Not only have you saved Astrid but you gave us a great place to rest up. You're very right, sleep and food is something we needed at this turn of the tide."

"Not at all, I feel as if I had seen you and kept going… well than I'd be no different than the monsters that did that to you." claimed Wuunferth. Ulfric ultimately respected this man wholly and sensed a lot of moral and worth.

"Thanks." added Astrid. It was quite an extraordinary thing to have an assassin of the Dark Brotherhood give them praise; none the less a Jarl. No doubt Wuunferth knew of their occupations already. The minute he brought them to Kynesgrove he must have stripped them in order to tend the wounds and discovered they were no ordinary couple in need. Yet most people would have been uneasy or even terrified to harbor them, Wuunferth however, was willing to make his home feel just like they belong.

As soon as they finished eating; Ulfric and Astrid spent their day settling into their temporary home. They knew the stay wasn't going to be a long one but it was a great place to heal and replenish. Ulfric spent most of his time in his guest room trying to sleep for as long as he could. Astrid was in the process of still healing. She could walk around and look healthy but she was still in a dangerous condition to fight. Kynesgrove was coated in Eastmarch's classic snow outside must have been a blizzard of ice. Yet inside their house it felt warm and welcoming. There was a neatly placed fireplace lighting and warming the room that put everything in perspective for Astrid. The relaxation and peace was something she direly needed. However her mind kept wandering back to the thoughts of Ulfric. He simply sat upstairs resting, could she possibly wander up stairs with him and speak with him. She really didn't care what they would speak about, it could be anything; she really just wanted to see him. This was a very curious thing to Astrid. It was funny to think this confusing relationship began simply out of a failed assassination. This thought brought her a brief smile and a charming giggle to herself. She couldn't help but repeat, _"The Jarl and the assassin."_in her head. It was indeed a humorous subject that kept announcing itself. Every instinct was also telling her to go upstairs and visit with Ulfric, yet a feeling of anxiety kept her from it. She didn't want to intrude on Ulfric especially when he was trying to sleep. It would be atrocious for her to barge in there and demand a conversation with him but no matter how atrocious she wanted to more than anything. That was when she remembered Wuunferth telling her that he had left her armor (along with Ulfric's) in his guest room. She didn't necessarily care or think her way around this plan, but she found a chance to go up into that room; so she took it.

Ulfric wasn't sleeping, how could he? He was far too preoccupied with his thoughts. There he sat mauling over his own thoughts, sitting on the side of his bed he drifted into his mind. Never had it crossed his mind that these feelings for Astrid would be a side effect of this journey. If he had known; he might have stayed in Windhelm. Not that he was regretting it but after his confession for his love of Astrid he just didn't want to endanger her. Which of course was what he was doing practically the whole trip. The trip alone had disturbed his life to the extreme, making it far more stressful. The disappearance of the sword was troublesome but trying to find it with Astrid was oddly difficult. There was far more to worry about now that they were at this peak with each other.

Then when the room was most silent a small creak of the door was heard as it opened. Ulfric glanced over to the opening expecting Wuunferth, and then Astrid changed his expectations.

"What?" asked Ulfric, he stared intently at her as she trembled in the doorway. He did not remove himself from the bed, but he continuously looked up at her. She replied with a murmur,

"My armor…" Ulfric instantly shot back,

"What do you need your armor for?" Astrid continued to look around the room anxiously for her Dark Brotherhood attire.

"I need to check it, make sure I can repair my boot after that centurion nearly sizzled my foot off, remember?" Ulfric finally stretched himself up from the bed and advised to Astrid,

"Wait for tomorrow when the sun is brighter. Perhaps Wuunferth can repair it…" Astrid had suddenly dropped her armor purposely and turned to Ulfric. Her heart was racing and her stomach was in knots; it was literally twisting her.

"Okay, that's…" she mumbled, "That's not the real reason I came up here." Ulfric was bewildered at this moment, what could she have come up for?

"Then what is it?" he asked once again, unsure of what the question would lead to. Astrid approached him like before, only far more afraid. She reached up to his level gripping his shoulders,

"Still trying to find that out…" she quoted, as they held each other once again; they lost their motives. Both Ulfric and Astrid lunged at each other with a kiss full of overdue aggress. Passion and anger was added into the embrace, it was like a frenzy that was never ending. Astrid wrapped her arms around his neck as he enveloped his built strong arms around her small torso. Her toes were barely touching the ground at this moment as Ulfric was holding her. He then pulled himself away briefly only to close the door that still remained open, then he came straight back to her not even muttering a word. The time he bundled his arms around her again and compelled his lips against hers they were both lost again. What happened when they kissed was like a disease. Neither of them could control themselves, they didn't care about themselves anymore; they only cared for each other. Ulfric slowly slid his hands down her back until they met the back of her thighs. He gripped her thighs then lifted her effortlessly. She wrapped her legs around his torso and was collected in his arms. Ulfric then backed himself onto the bed and let Astrid's thighs go. She rested her knees on the soft mattress as she stayed on top of Ulfric. His hands were pushing her closer to him and eventually as she kissed down upon him her hands made their way to taking off his clothes. She unbuttoned and unbelted the mourner's clothes he was wearing and peeled off his shirt. The dress Astrid was wearing was already half off by Ulfric's hands. She relished in the moment of caressing and exploring her hands around his sleek and brawn torso made of much muscle and sinew. Through all of this they never once broke off their lips from each other. Ulfric was far less aggressive than Astrid in taking off her dress. However she made it effortless; it just slid off her body. He gently felt up her back which was as smooth as lavender. Being far more bold, Astrid soon took off her under garments and crawled herself upon him. Ulfric immediately flipped himself on top of her. He slowly rubbed his hands down to her thigh once again. Instead he moved them to grip the sides of his hips. Her body was totally unclothed and her mind was no doubt racing with millions of thoughts. Astrid was nervous, this may have not been her first time with a lover, but all the same Ulfric tangled her emotions. Ulfric kicked his boots off the bed and Astrid's toes clutched on his trousers and pulled them down (along with his loincloth).

Ulfric finally stole his lips away from Astrid's only an inch apart. She stared up at him attentively with no other expression. He moved his lips against her recurrently and slightly but not slowly moved himself up inside her. Astrid gasped abruptly through his lips suddenly as he did so. She clutched her arms tighter around his neck as he pushed deeper and kissed him fiercely. Both his arms flexed with every thrust he made, and he lightly sighed between them in this act of bliss. As their love continued, Ulfric began to quicken his pace and, Astrid, unable to control her infatuation, let out a soft and demure moan. Ulfric moved his lips down to her neck and continuously kissed as he progressed. Astrid was totally compelled by Ulfric, but in the strangest way it felt amazing. She could go on in this moment forever if she fancied, she could go on forever with Ulfric and never get bored of him. This is the moment you could say they fell inlove with each other. Unsure the whole adventure that had seemed to spring up out of nowhere, it was finally happening. The troubles outside in Skyrim no longer were irrelevant, nor were they even a core topic in their minds. Ulfric even forgot he was a Jarl, and Astrid forgot everything with her uncle, the lives she took, and the reason of how she met Ulfric.

Astrid looked up at the ceiling; a single tear fell from her eye. This tear was one of the first she cried in happiness. Her clutching of Ulfric's neck became more of an embrace. She gently brushed her palm down his soft hair and smiled in absolute comfort. Ulfric and Astrid came from two totally different worlds that made them terrible for each other. Yet in some aspects, it's the very thing that made them perfect for each other.


	7. Traitor in our Midst

Astrid awoke to the slit of the sun's rays through the curtain. She only opened her eyes slightly and was comforted by the company of Ulfric, whose arm was wrapped around her and held her close to his chest. She closed her eyes at this thought being so close to Ulfric, of being so safe and protected. Moments of the night they had shared kept coming up in Astrid's mind. She smiled to herself enjoying the rare comfort of the moment she was in currently. Now that she was certain Ulfric loved her back there was no question, Astrid finally found a reason to smile.

Her thoughts went to a curious idea in this moment, a moment she never really thought of till now. She envisioned herself with Ulfric. She was happy of course; in noble furs and jewels like royalty. She was the Lady of Windhelm, the wife of the great Jarl of Eastmarch. Jarl Ulfric rarely returned to his castle to spend time with his wife, she would stay and tend the castle. The Lady was alone mostly, never really had any company from anyone she cared about. She was left to oversee Windhelm, make amends to the dark elf injustices, hold parties and socialize with other supporters of Ulfric's cause. The Lady never stepped foot on the battlefield again, nor would she remember the past she once lived as an assassin. She would bare Ulfric's children, live a life of luxury and love with her husband… until finally time consumed them. All she would be was a memory. Astrid's ache for a life with Ulfric was nudged at this thought. Even though she would be safe, happy and secure, this life for Astrid was so… dull.

Her love for Ulfric and fear of becoming domesticated and living a life in a cage tangled her emotions. One path or the other was all that flooded her mind. Either choice she would lose something she cared for and never really be happy. This choice overwhelmed her. Astrid was in no position to choose right now, but knowing she irrelevantly had to choose was even worse. Astrid and Ulfric would be happy and bliss together… for a time. But soon marriage would bore them of each other as it does for most and she would be stuck in a life of loneliness and domestication. Astrid would no longer feel the thrill and freedom of being an assassin, which was something she deeply valued.

Ulfric's breathe warmed her neck as he slept deeply next to her, Astrid only opened her eyes slightly to visualize the room and drift away in thought. Many of the adventure she had were repeating it's self like a flipbook in her mind. The failed attack on Ulfric, the forsworn, the werewolves and the dwemer ruin that nearly took her life was remembered. The night that she had just spent however, was her most significant memory. She glanced over to her supply bag and armor on the wood floor just near the side table. That moment Astrid remembered the note she received from Gabriella before she and Ulfric left for Raldbthar. The note she had so foolishly forgotten. She remembered it's writing,

_"I shall alert the others of the quest at hand,  
Today it is the 23rd of First Seed.  
On the 27th, the brothers and I will gather to assist you and  
will be on our way to carry out the death of  
High King Torygg. Along with the letter I shall write to the Blue Palace  
about suspected assassination. I am giving you four days to find  
Ulfric's sword before myself, Veezera, Nazir and Amaric arrive.  
Be warned, the brothers do not understand you as I do.  
If you still keep Ulfric's company by the time they arrive they will  
kill him. We will lose our asset to our plans, I cannot tell the others of  
your thorough ideas due to Amaric's forced rules. Please make haste, sister!"_

Astrid shot up from her spot, not awaking Ulfric. The plans for the Dark Brotherhood to kill the High King of Skyrim, foiling Ulfric's cause, was to happen today. Astrid was in a panic. Even though Ulfric was with her, and the plans to distract the Solitude guards with Ulfric was impossible at this point, Astrid still had no wish of ruining Ulfric's plans, none the less putting her associates in danger. The attack of the Dwarven Centurion nearly killing her had put the letter off her mind, remembering it now was like a slap in the face.

Astrid crept out of the bed as stealthy as she was taught and snuck to her supply bag and armor, hastily equipping them. But in all the hurry she accidently knocked out the letter from Gabriella onto the ground, unaware of it. She had no other choice for herself than to travel back to Falkreath before it was too late and stop her brothers and sisters from killing the King. Astrid knew she must do this alone, telling Ulfric would lead him to discovering her plans she no longer felt needed. Astrid did not wish to lose Ulfric because of it, seeing how stubborn he is she knew he wouldn't take kindly to a plan to sabotage all Ulfric stood for. She would rather leave him in confusion, than in anger, she was cowardly to tell him the plans. She quickly got all her armor and equipment intact, substituting her burned boot with a common villager boot. Astrid left the room finally without even leaving a note for Ulfric saying her goodbyes, just a list of possible places his sword could be. Knowing this could be that last she would ever see Ulfric again made it difficult for her to open the door. She took a final glance at Ulfric as he slept; trying her best to convince herself it was for his sake, and closed it behind her.

Holding back her tears she advanced down the stairs with her supply bag hanging off her shoulder. Before Astrid could make to the door, Wuunferth, the kindly wizard who aided her to her current health, appeared behind her.

"Where are you going? It's only morning." stated Wuunferth. Astrid turned to him startled, unsure what to answer,

"I need to be on my way now, uhh…" she stuttered, "Thank you for your hospitality." Astrid continued her way to the door.

"Without the Jar… I mean, your friend? Now that hardly seems right." Astrid was hasty, and had no time for Wuunferth's questions.

"I have to leave." she glowered. "Please understand that you are speaking to an assassin of the Dark Brotherhood." Before Wuunferth had the time to convince her to stay, she made her way out the door, leaving his words in the dust. Astrid was certain she had forgotten how she lives as an assassin whilst in Ulfric's company; it didn't feel right acting so cold again. About as cold as the Eastmarch morning that beckoned her as she reached outside. Astrid had no hope in walking, especially in this weather, she had to make haste. In the nearby stables she stole herself a strong stallion and was on her way.

The galloping through the sulfuric wastes and wintry lands of Eastmarch were fast and uninterrupted, just the way Astrid preferred. As she entered Falkreath hold the journey became slightly more perilous. There were more wolves and necromancers scattered behind trees and rocks. They slowed Astrid's pace slightly, but still gave her the luck of arriving in the pine forest. She dismounted her horse finally, and trekked into the woods deeper to find the Black Door that led to her home. Reentering these woods for Astrid was a wave of familiarity and peace, like she was simply returning back home after a long contract, like living a memory from the past. She breathed in the scent of pine and nature, the purity of what this wood had to offer was dazzling.

Suddenly to interrupt her bask in peace; a shrouded dunmer thug appeared from the trees holding a knife at Astrid.

"Hand over all your valuables! Or end up gutted and left to die!" he quivered, certain on who and what he was talking to. The man looked desperate; you would have to be desperate to threaten an assassin under the Black Hand. Astrid only let out an amused giggle at the thief and finally warned condescendingly,

"Do you have any idea what step you are taking here, fool? Go on, try to do your said "gutting", let's see whose insides fall to the ground first." the dark elf shook and clenched his teeth, terrified and angered.

"I… I mean it, you bitc-"all of a sudden, a similar and small little girl jumped on top of the elf and dug her vampire fangs into his neck. The man screamed and struggled for a while, until finally losing feeling from constant blood loss. All Astrid did was look upon the murder like she was used to it, when really she was.

"Babette, good to know you're around." Astrid smiled. Babette took her mouth away from the now dead dunmer's neck and gave a red menacing grin.

"Astrid, you're home! I could have sworn last we spoke, you were off to kill a Jarl, and as others tell me you're supposed to be off on a major quest as we speak." Astrid asked in response,

"Who told you this?"

"Well, the others have been talking about it since Gabriella went to find you those couple days ago. I suspect something bigger is at hand. You have the look of anguish and regret about you, is everything alright? Or better yet, have you found the Jarl's sword-"before Babette could finish asking, Astrid interrupted,

"Where are the others? They haven't left for Solitude yet, have they?" Astrid panicked. Babette only raised a brow, wiping the elven blood from her lips.

"No… they are preparing for the journey inside. I… can't help but notice you… don't want to fulfill the High King's death." Astrid had a feeling of what the others would say when they discovered her feelings for Ulfric. She knew they would oppose it, try to convince her of the foolishness she had let herself delve in, but she had little choice. In order to save the kill for Ulfric out of care for him, and protect her family from walking into a well-manned city with no distraction, she had to tell them everything.

"I will tell you everything, sister. Not just you, but everyone… well hopefully just you, Gabriella, Veezara and Nazir. There is also something I must tell you about our supposed leader, Amaric, as well." Babette felt no need to argue; she simply followed with Astrid's wish and walked with her to the sanctuary. Astrid felt down into her knapsack and moved her fingers around her potions and other supplies to find the note she discovered in Raldbthar. It was the note she had found by the falmer tents, the one to "_Ralos"_, who she was now beginning to realize it was the dunmer she sold Ulfric's sword too. That wasn't of any import to these assassins, however. They cared for the one who wrote it to Ralos, their altmer leader, Amaric. It wasn't much of the fact he was confiding with Ralos or that he had killed him that troubled Astrid. It was that Amaric found it risky to deal with a man who was also dealing with another of Amaric's Dark Brotherhood associates, hence why he sent his "other associates" to kill him. Either way, Amaric didn't trust Astrid, which was odd considering all in the Dark Brotherhood are family. But the most concerning context in the letter was the last line, "_Hail Boethiah"_, which was soon to be question to her brothers and sisters.

As soon as Astrid walked into the map room (one of the first rooms to behold in the Falkreath Sanctuary) she was met with her brother, Veezara, and sister, Gabriella. Veezara acknowledged her immediately,

"Sister! You've returned! I… but aren't you-"

"What in blazes are you doing here?!" Gabriella snapped, interrupting Veezara. She stepped up to Astrid in alarmed confusion, red eyes burning. Astrid only stood there unable to speak. Her fear of telling her friends of the relationship of her and her latest "target" was sure to upset them even more. Even though Gabriella was quite aware of Ulfric and Astrid, she was more concerned with the assassination of High King Torygg. Bringing her sanctuary glory and living to be feared again was all Gabriella cared for in this situation, that and the safety of her friends.

"There is something that needs to be said first, I'm afraid…" she continued nervously feeling the eyes of Babette, Veezara and Gabriella. "We cannot fulfill this assassination."

"How dare you come back here and tell us of your failure! Why? Why can't we progress? Its Ulfric isn't it? I just knew it, how could you do this?" bellowed Gabriella.

"Now hold on a second… what is going on? We've been planning this assassination ever since Gabriella returned with the news. I thought you had Jarl Ulfric at your knees?" questioned Veezara, fully interested in the matter. Astrid continued,

"Ulfric will not be there to hold the guards off; if we go in for the kill we'll be outnumbered." Babette asked looking up at Astrid finally,

"I thought you were ready for this? Even Amaric was willing to contribute…"

"Speaking of Amaric!" said Astrid, "There is something else I must bring to your attention, something that involves the sanctuary."

"Astrid what are you doing here? I thought I heard a familiar voice." Up the stairs in came Nazir, a proud redguard assassin. Upon seeing her family for the first time since she left for Ulfric's murder, it was like returning home a year apart. Her happiness of seeing them again kept getting clouded over the seriousness of the situation.

"Your feelings for the Jarl have poisoned your mind. Who do you care for more, him or us?" demanded Gabriella, her face ached with fiery and disappointment.

"Nazir, about time you arrived. We're dealing with a problem." said Veezara.

"What sort of problem? We don't have time for this; the Jarl of Windhelm will be arriving to Solitude shortly. We should be there before he does first."

"Okay! Everyone just shut up and listen to me!" hollered Astrid, gaining everyone's attention immediately with wide eyes. Having everyone's eyes on her, she pulled out the note she discovered in the dwemer ruin and handed it to Nazir.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's about Amaric; I just need to clarify it with you, with all of you." Nazir decided to humor her for the second and read the small bit of parchment. The others gathered around the note as he read aloud,

"Ralos, I've discovered the seller of your particular sword you sent me. Many thanks, but it appears we found conflict. She is invested in my little clan and due to my lethal expedition, her new companionship she holds, she'll use you as an asset to my plans. My associates (not said-clan members) shall be the ones to deliver this note and in turn… end your miserable life. Business has been good but I'm afraid all expenses must be paid for… Hail Boethiah?"

"…Well that's puzzling. Why would he write that?" asked Veezara. Gabriella being far less calm started rambling at the audacity of the note,

"Little clan? Little clan! The fool to think this is just a clan! He is obviously a filthy betrayal."

"Now, now let's not get ahead of ourselves here." advised Nazir, still examining the note, "I'm not sure about treachery… but there is defiantly something going on here that he doesn't want us to know about. First off, what in the world would he want with Ulfric's sword? Why wouldn't he want you to know about him buying it? Also… why does it say "Hail Boethiah" at the bottom?"

"I think that's the question we're all asking, Nazir." said Babette. As Nazir inspected the note further, Veezara ambled into Amaric's chambers, which resided right next to the map room.

"I wanted to check it with you first; I mean… the Dark Brotherhood doesn't follow the daedra anymore do they? Well… at least not Boethiah… what would an assassin have to do with a dunmer god?" asked Astrid. No doubt the rest of the Brotherhood was as confused as Astrid at this point, but now being able to gain questions (and better yet distract them from the assassination of High King Torygg) they could be able to get to the bottom of things.

"The Dark Brotherhood has many sacred rules, but none of them are daedra. We follow the ways of Sithis and the Night Mother. Boethiah… well, I simply have no idea, perhaps… Amaric is betraying us." Suddenly Veezara came back into the room with a somewhat intriguing book; old and decaying.

"I've found something… this eerie book I discovered under Amaric's bed. It's about Boethiah… well more specifically about this Goldbrand…"

"Hand it over quickly." demanded Nazir. Veezara handed the book over revealing the page he was reading.

"By Sithis, I'm not one for following Sithis and the Night Mother whole heartedly either, but right now he's reading into something we have to take into consideration. This is treason of the Dark Brotherhood."

"What makes you say that?" asked Babette.

"Because this book is not just a simple Boethiah biography, it's ancient, evil and most of all… magical. This Goldbrand… whatever it may be. Is a key to open a gate." as Nazir went through the pages of the book he continued, certain his friends were listening,

"A gate to what?" questioned Astrid; certain she wasn't going to want to hear the answer.

"A gate to Oblivion, but not just any plane of Oblivion, Boethiah's plane."

"By Sithis, the fool is trying to raise Boethiah? Like the Oblivion Crisis 200 years ago?" catechized Gabriella in complete disbelief. Astrid wasn't certain Amaric even had the madness to bring a daedra in their true form to Nirn from the hole of Oblivion. Even a follower of their religion wouldn't do so.

"No… he wouldn't. Would he really be crazy enough to? Maybe he was just reading about it… academically." advised Astrid; certain what she was saying was truth.

"Oh he would be." claimed Nazir, still reading through the pages of the strange book. "I think we know why he wanted Ulfric's sword so bad… the key to the plane of Oblivion must be open by a fragment of Boethiah's lost treasures, her gifts to her champions."

"What does the Jarl's sword have to do with any of this… you think… wait-"stuttered Babette before finally realizing,

"The sword is the key; it's the "Goldbrand", an ancient boon of Boethiah." Astrid had no idea Ulfric's sword was from the Daedra Prince Boethiah, but then again she doubted even Ulfric knew. The sword was lost for 200 years, now it is back as a family heirloom to the Stormcloaks.

"This is uncanny. So Amaric is really trying to summon Boethiah into this world… what should we do?" question Veezara.

"A confrontation, we are going on with just little piece of evidence here. I may be just another assassin under the hand of Sithis, but there is no way in hell I'm bringing some daedra into this world!" Astrid declared, "Where is he?"

"Well, I'm right here." announced a certain High Elf voice behind them. In from the hall of the Black Door of the Sanctuary came Amaric, his leaf green eyes glued on Astrid, just his glare gave off a slight arrogance like most altmer. Amaric had no doubt been listening to the conversation in secret given his defensive shield being let down and the look of no remorse on his face.

"I take it you've been listening to everything we just said." assumed Astrid. Amaric only returned his answer with a smirk and crossed his arms around his back, pacing around them.

"You all breathe so heavily, hard not to." he smirked. His accent had a slight posh sound to it, slight arrogance, no different than any other fop.

"Is there any truth to it?" asked Nazir, as if he was confronting a brother. Amaric stopped his pacing and planted both feet on the ground, turning his body to them in the spot, his hands still behind his back.

"You can all rest easy tonight. I'm sure none of this troubles any of you. Yes, it's true. I won't lie. I only wish to progress in my mission further. However I may need help… by some of you but I'm sure none of you will really mind." Gabriella suddenly equipped her Firebolt spell on each hand as a threat to Amaric,

"You won't take any of us alive!" she screamed, much to everyone's attention, Babette attempted to calm her,

"Gabriella, what are you doing?"

"He means to sacrifice us; why else would he need us? To raise a daedra there is always blood spilled… and for this particular one you need the blood of fellowship, of your friends." Gabriella was not making much sense to Astrid and Veezara, but to Babette and Nazir, those who are mavericks in the daedra knew she was telling the truth.

"How could you possibly know that?" demanded Amaric, placing his hand on the handle of his blade ready to unsheathe it. Nazir stepped forward to Amaric, his Hammerfell sword unsheathed and pointed at Amaric's face,

"Makes sense, sure we may have not read it, but there is no other reason why you would need us, Amaric. To put the pieces together is a terrible thing, I promise you this will not work. You will need gallons of the blood, gallons of it! There are 5 of us and one of you, in order to complete your foolish task to raise Boethiah will take all of us dead! You won't be able to brandish a sword against us without your head rolling on the floor." Amaric let out a most atrocious laugh at Nazir's threat, his head at the ceiling than back to offer his threat,

"You are all fools! When risen Boethiah will plunder and bring together her followers to relish in her freedom. And I! Amaric! She will reward with boons beyond comprehension. I will become her new champion! Nothing any of you do will stop her resurrection, all of you will die." at this all 5 of the assassins unsheathed or equipped their spells at this point, prepared to kill their former leader.

"Well, come on then! Let's see if your arrogance in battle wasn't exaggerated all these years." threatened Astrid. Amaric only grinned slyly,

"I have a better idea… I may be a loyal servant of Boethiah… but these walls are still mine! As are those who rest within them." Amaric then fled cowardly through the tunnel back up to the Black Door. Before any of them could go after him, the assassins of the past spirits emerged from the walls and attacked them. Astrid immediately blocked a blow from a ghost of the void with her dagger, and then sliced its throat. Even though they appeared incorporeal, their body was as solid as the day they still breathed, which meant they could be killed the same when they were alive. Babette had no blood to suck from the spirits, so she stayed protected by Nazir's Scimitar.

"Damn! How is this possible!" choked Nazir, fighting off a ghost assassin, "How does Amaric still have power over these assassins?" Gabriella's fireballs went streaking past Astrid's head, nearly hitting her, but luckily hitting the ghost behind her,

"I haven't the slightest clue!" she yelled, fighting her own assassin. Making their way to the exit to escape was nearly impossible, the place was swarming with their departed brothers and sisters, fighting under the control of Amaric. Veezara was busy trying to clear the exit; he was a very skillful assassin, a trained Argonian in the Shadowscales. But soon he grew weak and an assassin sliced the back of his leg, making him collapse to the ground. Astrid came to his aid immediately fighting off all the undead who tried to claim his life.

As they fought of the assassins, soon the room began to pack and all 5 were losing their fatigue. Babette raced to Amaric's room, abandoning them in this hour.

"Babette!" bellowed Nazir.

"This is hopeless! We will all die if we can't find a way out of here!" hissed Veezara.

"Everyone, get undercover!" screamed Babette, carrying over 6 flame scrolls. Everyone instantly dived into one spot under the map table as Babette threw all 6 of the scrolls to the assassin's feet, and at the same time all of them blasted in a red hot sea of flames. The explosion massed the entire room, as the 5 huddled under the table for protection against the fires. As soon as the blast settled, all that was left was ash and ember. The 5 assassins crawled out from under the table.

"Are… is it over?" asked Astrid, blowing the ash from her face. A moment of silence was held as they stared around the scenery in front of them. Instantly more of the departed assassins started crawling from the walls, their blue spirits lit with rage.

"Oh, bloody hell!" snapped Veezara.

"Everyone get around me, now!" demanded Astrid. All 5 of the assassins formed a circle as they faced the incoming ghosts with their weapons unsheathed. They were ready to fight to their deaths, until suddenly all the ghosts simply disappeared, and left nothing behind but the ectoplasm. It took a while for any of them to acknowledge that they all just died in front of them, they were certain more would come from the walls. Nothing happened… they were simply all gone.

"What… why did they all just stop like that?" asked Veezara, collecting the blue ooze on his two fingers. Nazir looked around armed, still waiting for more to attack.

"Sithis knew of Amaric's treachery. He commanded his children to retreat from the attack. Only Him or the true leader of the Dark Brotherhood can command the will of the Void." preached Gabriella, smiling to the walls. Nazir responed,

"Well I'm not so sure about that, but I am sure we're safe now. I'm also sure we are going to go slaughter Amaric before he even has a chance to start this little ritual. He'll be back when he's finished preparing and he'll try to collect our blood. We might as well hack his head off first."

"Agreed." growled Astrid, sheathing her dagger. Veezara limped over to a healing potion, applying it directly to his leg wound.

"I'm going as well, been wanting to kill that bastard since he cut my bonus on that stronghold contract." panted Veezara.

"I'll go too, he must pay for his treachery." joined Gabriella. Babette however was not so keen to go,

"I'm sorry… but I'm not sure I can just walk out in broad day light and try to hunt down Amaric with all of you, despite how much I want to."

"We understand, Babette. We'll be back with Amaric's head soon." Astrid announced, while leading her brothers and sister out the Black Door. Astrid knew there was always something shady and untrustworthy of Amaric, like he was always planning something. She had only a few to thank him for, which were things he never did on purpose, like sending her to kill Ulfric so that she could meet him, possibly one of the few things that ever came good of her contracts. Thinking about Ulfric at this time made her grieve, wondering how outraged he was, or how betrayed he felt now that she was gone. Ulfric was now on an endless journey to find his sword, or he was to return home back to his castle and fall into hatred of Astrid. No matter how much she wanted to prevent all of this, the matter at hand was just too important. Before she left, she spotted a journal of Amaric's left in the ash from the flame scroll explosion pushed up in a corner. She instantly picked it up and shoved it in her knapsack; sure it would prove most valuable while reading on their journey to stop Amaric.

When they reached outside to the pine trees, Nazir looked to Astrid for guidance,

"Astrid… what you did in there was the true instincts of a leader. You protected us, and you most certainly were prepared to lay down you life for us. I think it's only reasonable you lead us to Amaric." Unsure to be proud or overwhelmed that they were intrusting her with being their lead, she accepted lightly, with nothing to really object,

"Of course… I'll try." Astrid pulled out Amaric's journal and read from the first entry, "Ahh… where else? Hmm… we make for Boethiah's sacellum in Eastmarch… near Windhelm." she ordered. "Come now, we walk immediately." Suddenly sacks of exploding gas flew from on top of them over the Black Door. The gas was a knock out gas, prepared to make any who breathe it in fall to their knees and lose consciousness.

"Walking?! Who walks?" laughed Amaric, who they could not see, but hear. The four began coughing incessantly collapsing to the ground as the green compound filled their lungs. Astrid looked up from the dirt only slightly, losing her eye sight as it blurred. In front of her she saw numerous boots walk to them and one pair of Dark Brotherhood boots stand ahead of her face before finally falling unconscious.

"When being carried is so much easier?"


	8. With Friends like These

"She left no more than 3 hours ago, didn't say much, and only said she had to leave." told Wuunferth to Ulfric, as Ulfric examined the note from Gabriella he had found on the wood floor. He didn't look up from the note when he finished it, only stared at it with his eyes watering. He read the plans Astrid had been conspiring with Gabriella this whole event with Ulfric clueless, the plan to steal Ulfric's kill and use him as a distraction for the Solitude guards and leave him for dead. He was indeed clueless to the plan; Ulfric had no idea of the very thing which left him speechless. Of course he should have known, the night at the Road Mead Hall when the werewolves attacked, he saw her with Gabriella in the woods talking in hush tones, and not even then did he figure it out. The whole time Gabriella and Astrid were planning it all along.

Ulfric felt like a fool, he thought to himself in anger for Astrid and everything she stood for as Wuunferth went on about Astrid's leave. _She was just softening me up,_ he thought to himself. Ulfric thought Astrid was simply toying with him and leading him astray from his sword. No doubt after they left Raldbthar she'd lead him to Solitude, and there her plans would go to affect, and Ulfric would die. This was the part that sank Ulfric's heart the most, the fact he'd give his life for hers in a second and Astrid would easily throw his away just as easily. He wanted to call her every horrible curse in their language, but couldn't find himself to utter one not even in his head. There was still a misplaced love for her he was strongly loathing, he still felt like her fool, and that she was nothing more than a lowly seductress who led him to death numerous times for her. Not even once during this journey did Astrid save him out of love or compassion, just for watching herself.

Ulfric crushed the letter in his hand as Wuunferth continued; he stopped at the sight of Ulfric's aggravation,

"…I'll leave you be." he parted. Getting up from his chair he was stopped by the choke of Ulfric's voice,

"Did she say where she was going?" he asked, unsure why he did.

"No… like I said she didn't say much, just that she had to leave. I guess this "assassination" for the King must have passed its date, she must have had no use for you anymore." this tore at Ulfric's heart even more, making his eyes gaze to the ground letting out a sigh. Wuunferth spoke remorsefully,

"Look, if you were thinking about getting even. I'm not sure revenge can mend that heart, son." With moments of silence, Wuunferth finally left Ulfric to his thoughts, feeling he had a lot to think about. Ulfric didn't even care about the sword anymore, not even his father's honor was thought about at this moment. He just wanted to go home and forget all about this nightmare. Ulfric thought of himself as a weak disgrace to his family if he could not withstand a common temptress, he honestly did love Astrid. He didn't care where she was because of this, nor did he want to, scared if he did he would force himself to confront her. He wanted to simply forget her, forget this journey and not tell Galmar why he never returned with the sword, just that he wanted to sleep. The tears that kept taunting his eyes were demanding to crash down, he withheld them with the last bit of honor he thought he still had. Ulfric knew he couldn't stay here anymore, not in this place where Astrid once walked; he was soon to pack up and make way to Windhelm.

Ulfric equipped only what he needed for a short walk to his city, and slumped his way down the stairs. As soon as he reached the doorway he was parted by Wuunferth,

"You don't have to leave so soon, no offence, but you don't look so good." Wuunferth advised, he noticed Ulfric's eyes were as red as some of his scars that Wuunferth had patched up.

"I'm fine, friend. Once again, thank you for everything. I would have never made it without you. Please, feel free to make way to my palace whenever, I could use a man as adept with magic as you are. Which is a lot from me, I promise you." thanked Ulfric, Wuunferth replied to the praise with a grateful smile,

"Thank you, my Jarl. Talos guide you." making his way out to these lands he owned in Kynesgrove, he simply breathed in the air he had locked himself away from since he was rescued. Even though the sadness of Astrid's betrayal still tortured him, he felt comforted to know he was finally alone. This helped him to get over her faster and more effectively got him to Windhelm. Re entering his city gave him the confidence he needed, the proof he was better than Astrid could ever dream of being. As his subjects praised his return and spread the word faster than mage fire, there was a bit of immortality in his power at the sight of this. Ulfric was loved, and would be remembered and immortalized in people's hearts. Astrid would be forgotten and soon killed by the career and company she holds. Despite all the truth of his power compared to hers, all this never made him feel better, it would tidy the thought until it came back again; that Ulfric missed Astrid, and in this moment felt more alone than ever.

"Ulfric!" yelled Galmar as his Jarl came in through the Palace of Kings doors. Galmar Stone-Fist jogged his way to Ulfric's company with a jolly grin on his face. Ulfric returned it with a quivery smile, unsure he could really experience any joy at this moment. Suddenly Ulfric's body was soon enveloped in Galmar's arms, his laughing heard in Ulfric's ear. Galmar chortled,

"My friend, you have been gone for days! The castle has grown anxious for your return. I bet they are already celebrating, I- uhm… Jarl Ulfric?" Galmar could see the anguish in Ulfric's face, the look of sorrow.

"I need to sleep, Galmar. Please tell all those who wish to speak to me to leave. I am in no mood for voices." without giving him a chance to respond, Ulfric pushed his way through Galmar to his chambers. Breathing in his castle again, finally being home after all he had gone through, none the less seeing Galmar again somehow did not leave him overjoyed. Coming home to disappointment and hopes of finding someone to hold the rest of his life and ending up with heart break ended that. All he wanted to do was forget, and just move on with his life. _Never think about this quest again._ If only he had never gone after Astrid after her first visit to his castle he would be fine. He was terrified of growing to hate her, but had no wish to love her, he wanted to forget. Maybe a spell could help? A potion? Anything to cure him of this journey would suffice. But he knew truly there was nothing, and the healing process for his heart would be painful and long.

"Kill it! Kill the little demon!" screamed a Windhelm guard from the main hall. Ulfric was already inside his chamber doors when he heard the yelping.

"He-Help us!" yelped another guard. Ulfric grabbed a Steel sword from his bedroom sheathe and sprinted down to the main hall.

"What the damn hell are you?!" bellowed Galmar. As soon as Ulfric slammed the doors open to reveal the Palace of King's great hall he noticed no monster, but simply a small insignificant little child pouncing and slicing all round her with no effort or weakness of a common 10 year old girl. Until he saw her bright orange eyes did he see her as a vampire, but before he could charge at it she surrendered at the sight of him,

"No! Stop! I haven't come for any of you! I came for him!" screamed the child whilst pointing at Ulfric.

"You are no little girl." growled Galmar, his hammer still unsheathed. Ulfric immediately made the simple motion to Galmar to sheathe, which he did with no question.

"Who are you? What do you want of me?" demanded Ulfric.

"I am Babette, an assassin of the Dark Brotherhood. I have come on behalf of Astrid, who I know you were intimate with." said the child, as still as the ice outside.

"An assassin!?" choked Galmar, "Wait- you were intimate with the scum who stole your sword? What am I hearing?"

"Galmar, please. What do you mean you come on behalf of Astrid? Why wouldn't she come herself?" asked Ulfric. His sadness was replaced by worry. Babette answered,

"Boethiah cultists have taken all the assassins of the Brotherhood captive, I'm all who remains. They have taken the assassins to sacrifice them to their deity and bring her to Nirn in her true form. In short words, open an Oblivion gate." In this moment a few of the guards erupted in laughter, except Galmar and Ulfric.

"Are what you're saying is truth?" mumbled Jorleif, the steward of Ulfric who was now a part of the conversation.

"Impossible… no one would be stupid enough to do something so catastrophic. Have people forgotten the Oblivion Crisis?" grunted Galmar, scoffing at the very idea. The sincerity in the little vampire's eyes certainly gained Ulfric's attention. Yet he was not to believe she had come for help, especially after what he learned of Astrid. Perhaps this was just another way to lead him to Solitude, and continue with their plans? Ulfric objected her claims,

"What happened to the assassination? Am I no longer an asset? Or are you just leading me to my doom?" Babette continued,

"The assassination of High King Torygg is over, we have failed. We have bigger things to pay attention too. Not like Astrid would have let us even if the kill still stood." Ulfric's eye brow raised, his heart began to beat a little faster beneath his chest.

"What do you mean Astrid would have stopped you?" he asked.

"That's why Astrid returned… to stop the mission. Didn't she tell you all this before she left?" Babette could see in Ulfric's eyes she had given him relief. The greatest heart warmth to know someone still loved him. Even though she fed off others, she still enjoyed making people content. Ulfric was indeed relived; happily relived. He couldn't help but keep asking questions,

"So this note," Ulfric then pulled out Gabriella's note from his pocket, "This holds no significance, if the assassination still stood, why was it then written?"

"The assassination of the King was planned, but… it seems you must have swerved Astrid from her set out path. How does it feel to be so charming?" Babette smirked, crossing her arms in calm conversation. Galmar soon blabbed out,

"Are you saying you had a relationship with this assassin, a romantic relationship? Have you gone daft, boy?! There is no chance a Dark Brotherhood and a Jarl could ever be together, not even if she let that title go!" Despite how his yelling was aggravating, Galmar was telling the truth. Ulfric wanted to deny it but there was the smallest chance him and Astrid could ever be happy together. Seeing the war Ulfric was soon to rise would be endless. Astrid would never be able to give up the title, it was something that gave her a rise; made her feel alive. But even though they had a small chance of a future, Ulfric wouldn't let her die at the hands of a Boethiah cultist. He would never let her die, no matter what risk or dangers threatened his life.

"Tell me more of this Boethiah cult." demanded Ulfric at the vampire. Babette announced in turn,

"I will tell you all this on the way, I promise. We have little time; this isn't just about my friends this is about Tamriel! A daedra in this world would be terrible. Trust me; I was there at the Oblivion Crisis." Ulfric nodded at Babette, she was indeed telling the truth. This situation inflicted all and due to the Boethiah temple being in Eastmarch, it was his duty as Jarl to eradicate all those who resided in it.

"Come, we are on our way immediately. They will tremble at the sight of us." snarled Ulfric, sheathing his steel sword. Galmar soon followed his lead,

"You can count on me too, Ulfric. I will follow you into the depths of Oblivion, even if this mission makes it literal." Ulfric gave a smile to his noble friend, certain he was telling the truth, despite how alarming it was.

"Very well, than the three of us will be off."

-

Astrid soon awoke to the cold blistering air of the Eastmarch mountains; she shot up from her spot only to see she was in a cage. The cold air was beyond compare at this point of the day. It was nearing night fall, the sun was hidden behind the clouds making the sky a dark grey as the small snowflakes floated from the sky. Astrid looked around to cage and saw many of her friends also imprisoned, Veezara was the first among all of them,

"Astrid…" he stuttered, holding himself tightly as he shivered. The Argonian was reaching the end of his health in this weather. Being a reptilian was indeed a weakness in the cold. "The fool… he was telling the truth. He has it… the-th-the Goldbrand. Amaric… he'll kill us all."

"Veezara!" panicked Astrid, "You have to stay conscious. I know this hurts." Veezara only closed his eyes, and huddled his head between his knees with both arms wrapped around them. Astrid continued the search for her friends, there she saw Gabriella also freezing, and Nazir to her left. Being a Nord, she was resistant to the cold; her friends were no doubt experiencing a new type of pain in this weather. Then she saw Amaric walking down a flight of ancient stairs… with the Goldbrand. Astrid felt odd looking at it, knowing she almost killed Ulfric with the same blade. Also knowing this could be her last breathing days… and she'd never see Ulfric again. She knew he was safe, but her friends were the current aim in this situation. Astrid would make Amaric pay for all he had done.

"Sorry about the cold." chuckled Amaric, wearing warm clothes and a hood. "It's not my fault they decided to build this place in the coldest part of Skyrim. None the less, soon you 4 won't have to worry about the cold any longer." Gabriella latched herself to the bars of her cage, ignoring the freezing weather,

"Sithis will rip the smile from your face, you son of a bitch! You will pay for your treachery." Amaric then kicked her cage to the extreme of his strength, making Gabriella slide to the other side.

"Shut your mouth, dark elf. There was a time I would have refrained from hurting you most of all, now you are nothing more but blood for the Daedric Lord of Conspiracy."

"Why do this, Amaric?" asked Astrid, "You are no dunmer, why do you value the respect of Boethiah so much? I thought high elves disgraced her years ago…" Amaric shot back with anger he had never revealed before, a whole side of Amaric she'd have never seen, an insane side,

"I'm doing this because my family was once one of the most valued and respected families of Boethiah loyalties! Until my ancestors were fools, and lost her trust! Boethiah was our purpose…" quivered Amaric, now beginning to look as if he would cry, "Do you know what it's like… to not have a purpose? It's… maddening." He began to inspect the sword quietly, gazing at its shining metal with admiration.

"That's why I have to do this, for her. To prove our family is still worthy of her trust. I'm still worthy!" he suddenly shifted himself around to the Altar of Sacrifice, the hole in which Boethiah would emerge. He began to speak incantations to his deity before he would finally sacrifice the four remaining assassins. Astrid glanced around to every corner of the scenery around her to find a way out, but only saw Boethiah cultists begin to gather around Amaric's chanting. She then looked around at her friends; they were all suffering from the cold. Her anger at Amaric grew with every second; Astrid was certain he wouldn't kill any of them with his death coming first.

"Take the weakest one!" bellowed Amaric at the cultist before continuing with his ritual. Suddenly the cultists surrounded Veezara's cage and dragged him out of the bar doors. His weakness was so great he couldn't even fight back; he was like a rag being dragged through snow. Astrid screamed at the filth carrying him,

"No! Let him go! Take me!" she screeched. Astrid's tears began to well up in her green eyes, she couldn't stand idly by as they killed her friend. She would break out… somehow she would break out.

-

Ulfric, Babette and Galmar were fighting their best against the blistering wind that swelled their faces as they climbed the mountain path. They could see the statues and ruins of Boethiah's Sacellum way up the path, but the rush of stopping the ritual was beyond the pain of the winter air. However, both Galmar and Ulfric's Nordic resistance to cold made the journey lighter, along with Babette's vampire powers against all that can penetrate her.

"Raldbthar, huh? Never been in there myself, I expect it was quite the fascinating adventure." chattered Galmar to Ulfric as they trudged through the snow. Babette wasn't so far behind; she was in fact listening on the conversation as they spoke.

"Fascinating? Yes. Will I ever enter a dwemer ruin again? Never." responded Ulfric, "This past week has been quite the adventure, and it brought back memories of the Great War."

"No doubt, of what you told me so far this journey has had enough bloodshed, especially of what happened in the Road Mead Hall." grieved Galmar, for the people who were ripped apart by the werewolves that night. There was a silence in that moment as they continued up the mountain. Finally Galmar opened his mouth for a new conversation,

"I apologize for my objections at the castle. It'll take me a while to get used to the idea of you and the assa-I mean… Astrid. Sorry if you took offense."

"Don't trouble your mind." calmed Ulfric, his teeth chattering from the cold, "If we manage to get to Astrid's aid and save her, I doubt there will be any chance for us anyway. I believe our worlds are too different from each other."

"But you love her, don't you?"said Galmar. Ulfric did love her, but these paths that they have for themselves will always drift them away from each other. No matter how much Ulfric wanted too, he was afraid to leave Astrid in solitude for the rest of her life. Seeing Ulfric as a man who put his politics first, he wasn't sure he was ever set for the life of settling down. Perhaps after the liberation, and when he sat upon the throne of Skyrim. When that day came, Astrid would be long gone. She would never wait for him, which saddened his heart.

"Babette, what more can you tell me of this man. This High Elf?" Ulfric snapped at Babette. She reached in her bag for the journal and turned to a specific page.

"Amaric is his name; this is his journal which I found outside the sanctuary when he took my associates. It says in the first entries of how he was hated by his family… due to his worship of Boethiah. It also talks about how his family was once a prize bloodline to the daedra, and that they used to be respected. He was nearly obsessed with becoming respected again. Crazy fool." read Babette. Ulfric had no wish to spare the life of the man. Not just for taking Astrid, but for the sheer arrogance of raising a Daedric Lord into this world; oblivious to the consequences.

"Wait! Behind this rock!" signaled Babette, as she pounced behind a large boulder that lay in front of the Boethiah Sacellum. Her hood covered nearly her whole face; she was determined to hide from the light, even though the sun was covered by clouds. As the three hid behind the rock, their weapons unsheathed, they had a great view of the ritual being performed. Amaric knelt before the Altar of Sacrifice, chanting in words not even Babette could understand. A dark purple aura came from the altar, lifting in a swirling mass of light. The other cultists were all in a circle around Amaric as they held their heads down, hand in hand, simply listening to the words. That was when Ulfric noticed the other assassins in cages. He recognized Gabriella immediately as she stared on at the ritual being performed. It was odd to actually feel a bit of relief seeing her again. He then saw a Redguard warrior in another cage, and an Argonian being held by his arms unconscious by cultists. Then he saw Astrid in her Dark Brotherhood armor; her hands grasped onto the bars staring at the Argonian panicked. Ulfric thought of simply charging into the lot of cultists to rescue the assassins numerous times, but they were on the far side of the group, Astrid was the farthest.

"How are we going to do this?" whispered Galmar, his voice husked, "There is to many of the bastards." Ulfric kept repeating scenarios into his head to figure a way around the conflict.

"Boethiah… will return." preached Amaric, now finished his incantations "Bring forth the lizard."The cultists followed their instructions and dragged Veezara to the altar for the blood sacrifice.

"NO!" screeched Astrid. Ulfric knew he had to stop them before they killed the Argonian, seeing he was a friend of Astrid's, and his blood would awaken Boethiah.

"The blood of my fellowship, of my brother, will awaken the Mistresses slumber, making me known to her. To cut his throat with the blade of her hall would grant me her favor." The cultists then held Veezara's neck over the altar of Boethiah; his groaning was heard as he was soon to wake. Amaric then unsheathed the Goldbrand from his sheathe, and held it tightly against the lizards throat. The first glance of the sword made Ulfric choke, it was his family sword! It was the same sword that started this entire journey.

"My sword!" he exclaimed. This gained Amaric and the rest of the cultist's attention, including the concealed assassins. Ulfric chose this time to jump over the boulder with his sword unsheathed, Galmar of course followed in a monstrous battle cry. Babette used invisibility and was already slitting throats making her way to her friends. The cultist's released Veezara, making him fall to the ground, only to realize the Argonian was playing their minds, and he immediately stole a sword from a cultist's sheathe and stabbed it through his back.

The battle of Ulfric, Galmar, Veezara and Babette against the cultists was massive. Galmar's hammer was slamming the enemies to the ground, making their insides splatter into the white snow. His vicious cries of prowess were heard every moment. Ulfric was busy taking on numerous cultists with his talented one handed skills, his steel sword slicing and swaying through them like sinew. However, he was eager to stop Amaric before he could get to any of the other assassins. Luckily, Babette was busy releasing her friends from their cages. Nazir and Gabriella had finally joined in the fight. Nazir had managed to steal a sword as Veezara did, and together they both watched each other's backs.

"Not so much fun when I fight back is it?" laughed Nazir as he slashed the stomach of a cultist, making them collapse to the ground. Gabriella's magic was most useful in this moment of ferocious battle. She didn't need a weapon to fight back; instead she had her fire bolts that were scorching all those who wished to take on any of her friends from behind. Her healing was used for her allies whom were wounded when they lost their handle on groups of cultists. Astrid was still nowhere to be found, which terrified Ulfric as he saw her cage door was open. In midst of trying to find her among the mass of battle, a Boethiah cultist came from behind him and slammed him with a shield, making him collapse to the ground. Before the scum could pierce him with a sword, Veezara came from behind and assassinated him with a sword against the throat.

"Thank you…" Ulfric choked out. Veezara grasped Ulfric's hand and pulled him up.

"Where's Astrid?" Veezara demanded.

"That's what I want to know!" exclaimed Ulfric. Suddenly a few cultists came swinging at the lizard and nord with daggers. Veezara kicked the first one to the ground before decapitating him with the end of a shield. Ulfric killed the other by jabbing his sword in through his belly and out from the back. He ripped it out from the man's body, making it flop to the ground.

"I thought Babette released all of you?!" question Ulfric, continuing to converse with Veezara before they were attacked again. Gabriella then shrieked,

"Let go of her, you scum!" Ulfric and Veezara then looked up to the stair case, and saw Amaric holding Astrid at knife-point. She struggled and screamed, but every movement she made was a cut on the neck from Amaric.

"ENOUGH!" wailed Amaric to all who were brandishing weapons. Everyone, even the cultists looked up at Amaric with Astrid wiggling and cursing behind his arm. Ulfric clenched his fists; he aimed his sword at the smug elf with no remorse for his life.

"Release her! Or be greeted with my sword to your neck!" threatened Ulfric. Amaric only laughed at his prowess, like a brutish child with no respect for others suffering.

"I won't fight you, Jarl. In doing so would be my demise. I can't die today… I can't! She must be raised; the only way for her to be risen is to shed this bitch's blood." Amaric's mind had surely snapped by his obsession with Boethiah.

"Do you really think she will reward you for this? A daedra will always seek to kill, even their followers." shouted Galmar at Amaric. The elves face went sour and pensive. "You are nothing more but a fool, a fool with a selfish dream. I promise you, you'll die before you have a chance to spill the Dark Brotherhood blood. Now surrender the girl and face Windhelm justice!"

"No! I have a better idea." screeched Amaric. He then grasped his hand on Astrid's forehead, and his hand began to glow a dark red, he was using some kind of magicka on her.

"STOP!" bellowed Ulfric, running up the steps.

"AH! One step closer and she dies." threatened Amaric, his teeth clenched still holding the knife to Astrid's throat. As soon as he finished using the spell on Astrid, he threw her to the ground.

"A spell gifted to me by Boethiah. There is another step to this resurrection, the step of battle." growled Amaric as he unsheathed his sword.

"There's already been enough of that, hasn't there?" asked Ulfric.

"No, you misunderstand." continued Amaric, "The battle of fellowship. You must fight to the death, while still calling your enemy… friend."Ulfric's veins were popping from his forehead, and he knew exactly where Amaric was getting at.

"Astrid is under my control now, Jarl. She will never stop until she kills you, then when your life has come to its peak, she will sacrifice herself… willingly." Amaric let out nerve wrecking laugh as Astrid slowly got up from her spot. Her eyes were a glowing red, an effect from the spell. When she glanced at Ulfric, her face turned to a scorching anger, like she literally HAD to make him suffer.

"You will die!" she screamed, grabbing her sword from the ground, pouncing on Ulfric. Before any of the others could help, the war broke out again. This time the cultists were determined to keep the others from Astrid and Ulfric's fight. Ulfric kicked Astrid off, trying to avoid hurting her. She only got right back up and swung the sword at him viciously. Ulfric blocked the blows, not wanting to return any. Just seeing Astrid in her current condition hurt him more than when she almost died in Raldbthar. Ulfric did his best to reason with her,

"Astrid! Please, you have to stop! It's me!" she only responded with a swipe of the blade, making it slice through his chest. He yelped, but had no time to pay attention to it. Astrid's fighting skills were always impressive in Ulfric's eyes, but now fighting against them was beyond compare. Astrid was very strong, and the spell had no doubt made her stronger.

"You will suffer! In the name of Boethiah!" she exclaimed, still slicing rapidly at Ulfric. He blocked every swing, but he was losing fatigue. The war between the Dark Brotherhoods, the warriors of Windhelm and the cultists of Boethiah had reached the peaks of its heat; even Babette was in the hot zone of battle.

"Gabriella! Cure Astrid of her curse, quickly!" demanded Nazir as he fought off a Boethiah cultist.

"This is a Boethiah spell, I have no other spells to match it!" she pleaded. The battle between Ulfric and the cursed Astrid was reaching its peak as well; soon Ulfric would have no other choice but to fight back.

"Astrid please… remember me… remember me." he breathed out as he blocked every attempt of her blade. She began to screech,

"I will remember your death!"

"You will regret it!" he shot back and he pushed her to the ground, realizing it was the only choice. "This isn't you, Astrid. Even now… I still love you. I-"she only looked back at him; tears began to well in her eyes, like she was still in there.

"I will always love you." mumbled Ulfric as he looked down at her. She remained on the ground for a second, squinting her eyes and her teeth clenching, as if she really was trying to fight back the spell. Astrid then let out a reluctant scream, a scream of torture and she picked herself back up from the ground and pierced her sword through Ulfric's waist. This gained everyone's attention immediately. Galmar's scream at seeing Ulfric's death before his eyes walloped in everyone's ears. Ulfric ached and yelped as he clenched the sword piercing his body. Blood erupted from his lips as he looked up at Astrid. The red glow from her eyes had faded, and now her traumatized, leaf green irises looked horrified at what she had done to Ulfric. His vision went blurry as he looked up at her, her golden hair moving in the wind, and the tears pouring from her eyes. The same aroma came up in his nose, the smell of berries. With the pain coursing through his body he fell back whispering his last word,

"Astrid…" Ulfric hit the ground motionless, lifeless… _breathless_.

"NOOOOOOOO!" screamed Astrid, as her blade fell to the ground with Ulfric. She ran over to his body, turning him on his back.

"No, no, no, no, no please, no!" Astrid cried, knelt over Ulfric, his body unmoving.

"The spell could not have broken! Impossible!" screamed Amaric. Gabriella then ran to the altar,

"Enough of this!" she shouted. With a blade she cut her arm and dripped it over the altar. Suddenly the ground began to shake, the sky turned a pale purple and the cold air went to a humid stillness. The indigo aura then began to speak, in a dark feminine tone.

"_Who dares summon the Lord Boethiah into this world?"_ she snapped. Boethiah's voice making all who hear it shiver in terror. Astrid looked into the dark abyss, her tears falling from her cheeks.

"My lady! You speak, I have been searching for you for a long time!" cried Amaric, falling to his knees.

"_Fool, are you saying you were the one to arrange this ritual? To bring me into this world in my true and terrible form?"_

"Well… well, yes. I wish to honor you, to regain my place at your side. I am your most loyal servant, and to prove my love for you I shall resurrect you into Nirn. Are you… grateful?"He stuttered, absolutely overwhelmed by her presence. She shouted back, making the ground shake,

"_And who says I want to be raised?!"_ suddenly Amaric's body floated from the ground, his screams and begs endless,

"All I wanted was… to serve you, my lord!" he begged. Instantly his body exploded, like a bag of blood being blasted apart. His blood splattered on those who watched, and then the purple sky went back to grey, the cold air came back and the glowing indigo orb disappeared. At the sight of this the remaining cultists fled, scared to be the next in line for their assistance. It was over… It was finally over. Galmar, Veezara, Nazir, Gabriella, Babette and Astrid stared at the cowards running for their lives, and then once again they were greeted by silence.

Astrid's attention went back to Ulfric, his lifeless body as cold as the snow. She held her hand tightly on Ulfric's wound sure he would pass at any second. His breathe slower and slower.

"Someone help me!" she pleaded. Gabriella rushed over to Ulfric, her healing spell in her right palm. They all gathered around him, trying to find some way to help. Gabriella rested her palm on his wound and did her best to heal, but it was slow.

"Is it working?" Astrid sobbed. Suddenly Ulfric jolted his head up from Astrid's arm, gasping for air. A smile of relief filled her face. Galmar let out a laugh as he clapped his hands, and Ulfric looked up at Astrid,

"I thought… I'd never… see you again." he breathed out. Astrid smiled, her teeth showing as tears dropped from her eyes,

"I'm happy you were wrong."

When the 7 made their way down the frozen mountain, there was a pride they never knew they had walking away from such an accomplishment. They had stopped possibly one of the most dangerous daedra's being released into this world, and now this journey that Astrid and Ulfric had seemed to stumble upon was finally nearing an end.

"Gabriella, how did you know Boethiah wouldn't have wanted to be risen?" asked Veezara.

"Simple, a time ago I used to be a cultist of Boethiah, and I knew of most that Boethiah was truly a daedra who enjoyed solitary. Her plane of Oblivion… is well, her plane of Oblivion. She'll kill before she leaves it." Gabriella patched her wounds from the battle and started her walk back to the sanctuary with Veezara.

"Jarl Ulfric, I expect this is yours." Nazir said, handing Ulfric his sword, or otherwise known as "The Goldbrand". Ulfric only pushed it away, disgusted by the sight of it,

"No, it is of no use to me anymore. If I knew this sword was just a relic of a daedra… I would have saved me this journey."  
"But why regret it? Didn't you meet someone worth the journey?" asked Nazir, Ulfric then put his attention on Astrid, who was saying farewell to

Babette. As soon as Babette and Nazir started walking their way back to Falkreath, Astrid found this as the perfect opportunity to speak to Ulfric. They approached each other, almost too weary of one another. The snow falling before Astrid made her pale skin illuminate. She smiled lightly, unsure of exactly what she could say. Ulfric didn't say anything either, nor did he smile. He just looked at Astrid with his red-rimmed eyes and rested both his hands on each of her cheeks. Then leaned in and kissed her forehead. None of them did anything, just stood in the snow as it fell. The moment was silent; there was no heated romantic moment, no overdue kiss they needed to progress with… just Ulfric's lips against her forehead, and her standing still and in peace as he did so. Remembering the journey they had spent together let a few tears fall from her eyes. Astrid was more mournful than happy that she met Ulfric. Because even though she loved him, they could never really be together. Ulfric knew this also, hence why he started this moment. He just wanted to be in Astrid's presence a little longer before they finally acknowledged the truth of they could never be together.

When he released his lips he looked down to her in silence, as she looked up at him.

"I don't want to ruin this with a kiss." she muttered, her voice sounding as if she was on the brink of tears.

"Why?" asked Ulfric. Astrid's lip began to quiver, and with the tears beginning to well up, she began to cry,

"Because I'll never be able to again after tonight." she sobbed as she dug her face into his shoulder. Ulfric enveloped her in his arms as she did so. Ulfric didn't want to say it, but he felt he had too.

"You know… you could stay here. I don't care what they say. We could be together." Astrid slowly moved her head away from his shoulder, her eyes red and watery. She smiled lightly up at him,

"I wish it was that simple… but I'm a realist, I don't see much hope for us, Ulfric." The truth of the matter made this moment bittersweet, as bitter as the day they met, and as sweet as the day they first kissed. It was this that made this love as complicated and confusing as it was. Not even Astrid and Ulfric understood it, so how could they expect those who looked upon them too? There would always be chains pulling them away from each other. Ulfric and Astrid both had the same respect for each other to walk away from this, because even though they had to walk away, they were scared if they didn't they would indulge themselves more selfishly, and the love they had would be gone. This was their love, to respect both of their differences.

"I never told you this but…"mumbled Ulfric as he looked down to Astrid, with hot tears wetting his face. "But you remind me so much of my mother…" Astrid grinned so sweetly it made Ulfric grin with her. She then pulled out a black ink bottle from her knapsack and ripped the glove off her right hand. She then poured the ink on her hand.

"What are you doing?" Ulfric asked.

"Leaving my mark." she mumbled. She then took his hand and ripped off his gauntlet as well, and grabbed his hand giving him the mark of the Black Hand on his arm.

"Remembering me is harder for a Jarl. So here's something to carry." Ulfric didn't mind the ink. He just smiled down at it.

"Good luck, Astrid." smiled Ulfric, "Don't forget me." Astrid lunged herself at Ulfric's lips once again, but released a lot sooner than most of the time they kissed.

"Never." she sniffed as she let go of Ulfric's embrace. Astrid walked slowly away from Ulfric, looking back every second. Realizing the best way to leave was to keep her head high and walk forward, she never looked back once. Ulfric only stood in the spot she left him and watched her body go out of his sight over the hills. His eyes began to water, and knowing this was the end of their journey together, made it just another moment for him to remember.

When Ulfric returned back to Windhelm, he didn't feel as grieved as he did the first time. He felt a new start for both Astrid and himself. This wasn't a good bye, it was a release. He loved Astrid, and he knew it was best to love her in the distance, because he knew she was doing the same. Galmar greeted him outside by the gates with an embrace.

"My boy!" he chuckled. "That was a victory to be remembered."

"Indeed it was Galmar, indeed it was." smiled Ulfric, his hand on Galmar's shoulders.

"Come on! The people are gathering for the celebration of your arrival! There will be mead, food, dancing, boasting and most of all buxom women!" laughed Galmar as he led Ulfric into the palace.

"All sounds wonderful, Galmar, you can expect me there, but I'm afraid there is only one woman for me." said Ulfric, thinking of the beautiful assassin who left a Black Hand on him for the rest of his life, metaphorically and literally.

"What's that smell? It's lovely, you smell entirely of it. Berries I think… hmmm it's actually quite nice." noticed Galmar. Ulfric chuckled at the idea of it,

"Yes… I guess it is quite nice, isn't it?"


	9. Something Left Behind

The journey young Astrid had previously ended with Ulfric Stormcloak was an adventure she would possibly remember the rest of her life. She had plenty of scars, plenty of tears and plenty of memories to drift away with when her life of being an assassin became dull. Yet it never became dull, not when she returned back to her sanctuary after the journey and more importantly, Amaric's death. The Falkreath sanctuary was now doing better than ever, better than any of them ever anticipated. Contracts came in far more frequently than they did before. Not even with the help of the Night Mother did they need a new contract. Never did they in the first place, and as time passed it seemed unlikely their sanctuary needed any influence from Sithis at all.

It had been 4 weeks since she saw Ulfric and said her goodbyes. It was likely they would never see each other again, yet oddly this didn't seem to grieve Astrid. As time passed and the sanctuary became prosperous they recruited a new member. Festus Krex, and old professor at the College of Winterhold was a genius in the Destruction School, which was something the sanctuary valued immensely. An old grump, yes, but seeing he was given consent to join by Astrid, he knew his place. Seeing the only reason the Brotherhood was doing so wonderful was because of the young assassin, her associates found no one better, no one more suitable to become the leader of the Dark Brotherhood.

"We've talked it over ourselves." smiled Nazir at Astrid. He was not alone; the others of the sanctuary gathered around Astrid in common agreement.

"What…?" asked Astrid, in fear due to never seeing her family in such an odd way.

"You saved us from that fool who nearly killed all of us, you brought us the contracts we are currently gathering and the gold we sleep on. We have agreed… there is no one better, to become the leader of this sanctuary." Astrid became flabbergasted at the words spoken from Nazir's mouth. The others showed no objections to the choice. They all just stared at Astrid with proud smiles. Astrid could not deny this isn't what she wanted. She wanted to lead this sanctuary ever since Amaric died, she knew she was ready. Even before the coronation Astrid typically ran the place. This was what she was meant for, she was meant to lead.

"I'd be a fool to object… aha, it's about time one of you asked." Astrid accepted. A new chapter in Astrid's life opened that night; she was officially the leader of the Dark Brotherhood. This caused much Astrid's time to be spent. She never had time to commune with her friends and celebrate with them like she used to. Her only concern was contracts, keeping her sanctuary alive and bringing in pots of gold. That was all that mattered, _gold_. Soon her other family members began to notice her obsession, and Astrid was usually left alone to her work. The only times she ever walked away from her map table was when she had a contract. Astrid slowly became a stern, cold and calculating woman, who only paid attention to the task at hand.

As this Astrid was given birth, she began to forget Ulfric. There would be times when she would think about him and their journey together, but being so obsessed with her sanctuary left her drifting away from her love of him. Despite how much this scared her, she continued her work. Her work had made her so respected by the others in her sanctuary. She was greatly respected by all and due to this; they even began to adapt some of her beliefs. Astrid was never one for revering and above all, respecting the "Old Ways". Like she told to Ulfric, how she only worships "_herself"._ Soon the Dark Brotherhood became less and less of following the Old Ways, but more of getting as much gold as they could. The Dark Brotherhood became a business, and lost its feel of being a family. Astrid had no patience to notice any of this, she was far to consumed with her work, until something came up that could possibly change her whole life.

Astrid was at her map table like always unmoving; controlled by her plans. She was busy enforcing small contracts to some of the other assassins, particularly Festus Krex, who had been itching for a contract for weeks. Until a sudden pain worked up in her stomach, she didn't think anything of it.

"Astrid, do you have that contract ready yet? I just learned a whole new destruction spell… been aching for a test subject." Festus Krex directed at Astrid whilst coming up the stairs to her map room.

"Not yet." she responded "Just wait a little longer, I'm sure I'll have something soon. More appropriate to your… expertise."  
"My expertise, huh? As long as it can be burned with fire, or frozen with ice I'll take it. Just give me what you got right now…" nagged Festus, his voice cracking. Astrid turned to him agitated,

"It's not that simple… its-" before she could continue she grasped her stomach, just near her diaphragm. She crouched over slightly; a noxious feeling rose up in her stomach, like she had to vomit. There was a slight cramp making her breathe out in pain closing her eyes.

"What's a matter with you?" asked Festus, fully concerned. Astrid shot back,

"Nothing!"

"You better go see Babette; she can have something for that cramp. Had some bad meat?" Festus was really only trying to help, Astrid dismissed it,

"No, I'm fine. I haven't eaten anything… I-" suddenly unable to control it, she raced to the nearest basket and hurled everything she could have possibly eaten into it. Festus only watched completely disgusted at his leader vomiting in front of him.

"Well there goes that basket." he glowered. When Astrid finished she let out a groan and wiped her mouth, her feet collapsing to the ground, yet she still sat up, like a baby doe. Astrid and Festus just sat in the same room in complete awkward silence. Festus mumbled

"Are you alrig-"

"Don't say it!" shouted Astrid, not in the mood to converse for obvious reasons.

"You should go to Babette." Festus continued to persuade Astrid to seek help. Astrid had no idea why she was so ill, nor did she really care. She was far too consumed in her work to care about a stomach virus and seeing Babette for a tonic would slow her down.

"I will live." grunted Astrid, forcing herself up from the ground and stumbling back to her map table.

"Astrid…" Festus badgered,

"Fine!" Astrid relented to Festus' pleads, and drooped her way to Babette. When Astrid arrived to Babette's lab, she was by herself, simply feeding her pet Frostbite Spider, Lis. Gabriella was reading a tome about Sithis on a bench near the alchemy table. Veezara was no doubt out on a contract, while Nazir was in the eating room preparing dinner. When the two girls noticed Astrid stumble into the lab they of course were stunned. Astrid rarely walked out of her map room ever since she became the leader of the sanctuary.

"Astrid, what- what are you doing here?" tittered Babette, skipping to her. Gabriella only looked away from the book slightly, then went right back to her page.

"I appear to be feeling ill, Babette. Do you have any tonics?" asked Astrid, sweat beginning to spout on her forehead from the sickness.

"I may have just a few…." the small vampire than stole her attention to her potion's and poisons all collected on a book shelf. She reached for a common disease curing elixir and handed it to Astrid, "Try this." she smiled. Astrid inspected the potion briefly than poured it into her mouth, avoiding the bottle from touching her lips. The taste was nothing fancy; it tasted like stale bread and rotten mushrooms. If anything it made her feel worse. Babette grinned,

"Feel better?"Astrid then hurled yet again, this time in a nearby kettle that Babette was going to use for storing chaurus eggs. The potion obviously did not work.

"…Disgusting." growled Gabriella, slamming her book. Astrid wiped her mouth in embarrassment. This illness was now simply becoming a nuisance.

"Well that wasn't supposed to happen." Babette examined her other potion bottles and ingredient lists, but there was nothing wrong with any of them, all the tonics were fresh and specialized. Babette then began to inspect Astrid who looked worse than a fellow with Brain Rot.

"I'm no maverick in the human body, well… besides what type of blood is entering my mouth. If that potion couldn't help you, than I'm stumped." stated Babette as she caressed her chin looking up at Astrid. Astrid only rubbed her eyes at the pain and cramps she was feeling in the lower parts of her stomach. Finally Gabriella got up from her spot to take a peek at her leader,

"Allow me." she intervened; Gabriella grasped and poked all over Astrid's body. She grabbed a book of "Tamriel Diseases" from a bookshelf, and flipped through a few pages. "Where is it hurting most, what are you feeling?" she asked, not removing her sight from the book.

"The stomach." Astrid wheezed, "I feel noxious, like a have to vomit my insides up."

"Well you already did that." sneered Gabriella. She then began to tap her chin, still looking through the book. "Well I have never known a disease that couldn't be cured by a potion, none the less one of Babette's potions."

"What if it isn't a disease?" asked Astrid, desperate to fix the problem as it grew worse. Gabriella only looked at Astrid baffled, and then grabbed her hand to a wooden table in the lab.

"Lie down." Gabriella demanded to Astrid.

"What?"

"I trust you want to be cured?" Astrid had no idea where Gabriella was getting at, Babette didn't seem to object this either. She just watched as Astrid got up on the table and laid down on her back. Gabriella then equipped a spell to detect confliction, which was normally used by doctors for disease, more commonly priests.

"You will have to take your upper attire off." stated Gabriella at Astrid. Astrid was more than uncomfortable taking off her clothes in front of her friends. "Come, were all girls here." tittered Gabriella, smiling at Babette. Astrid submitted finally, seeing it was the only way to cure her. Her bra was still allowed to be on for much of her relief, but the cold against her naked back was quite uncomfortable. Gabriella than rested both hands on Astrid's ribs (with her spell equipped) and closed her eyes. Astrid could feel nothing of the spell, but she could feel Gabriella's cold hands tightly grabbing all over her torso. Astrid only looked up at the cavern ceiling, trying her best to not look at Gabriella.

After a few moments of trying to detect any disease, Gabriella came to the conclusion that she couldn't find one.

"Not even my spell could detect a disease, Astrid. No Rattles, no stomach virus… nothing."

"Then what is it?" croaked Astrid, Gabriella was in a puzzle. She had no idea what type of illness could surpass both a healing potion and a detection spell. Then Gabriella got an idea, like a snap of the fingers in her head. She grinned slyly and pressed Astrid back down on the table.

"I have another idea." claimed Gabriella. She equipped another spell, different from the other spell, but with the same concept. Astrid was too sick to argue and flopped back down on the table.

"What's the idea?" asked Babette.

"Shhh." Gabriella rested both hands on Astrid's stomach this time. She felt just under Astrid's belly button, and closed her eyes in concentration. In this moment, Veezara (who had recently returned from a contract) walked into the lab and at the sight of Astrid on the table with no top, Gabriella feeling up her stomach, and Babette just watching was a bit alarming. Veezara stopped at the sight,

"Oh… okay, I'll just go." he muttered, and slowly ambled out of the room to go join Nazir.

"Boys…" giggled Babette. As Astrid began to grow impatient, she looked up at Gabriella. At that moment Gabriella grew a most pleased and surprised smile on her face with her eyes still closed. Gabriella finally released her hands from Astrid's stomach and let out a most amused giggle.

"You can get your clothes on now, Astrid. I believe I have found the solution." Gabriella crossed her arms.

"Well what is it?" Astrid pleaded, equipping her Dark Brotherhood armor again. Gabriella sat down lazily on a nearby chair just simply smiling at Astrid, like she knew a dirty secret.

"The spell I used was a detection spell, just like the one I used to detect a disease… but there was a slight difference this time." Gabriella continued, "It was a Detect Life spell." Astrid tilted her head in confusion, what sense was Gabriella making? A Detect Life spell is used for… well detecting life.

"Yes… I'm alive. I thought we all knew that." chuckled Astrid, not removing herself from sitting on the table. Babette moved to Astrid's view andbegan inspecting.

"Oh you're not the only one alive in that body, dear." informed Babette. Astrid looked at both of them utterly shocked. She knew what they were hinting at, but it was impossible.

"Are you saying I'm pregnant?" she breathed out, completely scoffed at the idea. Gabriella nodded,

"Congratulations." Astrid shook her head, she wouldn't believe it. The idea was absurd, impossible! Astrid's face turned from disbelief to horror. She gripped her stomach at the idea of it and almost felt like vomiting again.

"No…" she choked, her lip beginning to quiver from incoming tears. When Gabriella and Babette noticed she was upset, they rushed to her aid. "I can't, this… I'm not ready for this. I'm not this type of person." Tears streamed down Astrid's cheeks.

"I saw it, Astrid. I saw the child, the seed in your stomach. It's in there." Gabriella mourned, rubbing Astrid's back. Babette hopped up on the table with Astrid and spoke sweetly,

"Who was the man? I mean… you have to remember that, don't you?" Astrid didn't want to think about it. She just shook her head as she cried. Until the memory of the journey she had spent with the Jarl of Windhelm came flooding back into her mind. It was the night in Kynesgrove when she was recovering from the attack of the Centurion… the night with Ulfric. She lost her breathe for a second and gripped her heart, sure it would stop. He mouth was agape from the idea of it. It… it was Ulfric. The man she had almost forgotten, the man she was sure had forgotten her. It had only been 2 months and she was certain they had moved on. This situation of possibly bearing Ulfric's child terrified her. It was an excuse, an excuse to bring them back together. This was something Astrid did not want. She respected Ulfric's life, their differences were respected. This child that was growing in her stomach didn't feel like hers, it didn't feel like Ulfric's either… it was neither of theirs, because Ulfric and Astrid could never be with each other. This would've been called out immediately if anyone knew what Astrid was thinking, it was indeed selfish. She couldn't raise the child; she had to give them away. She was no mother, she was an assassin. Astrid felt if she kept the child she would be selfish. She was a coward to give it to Ulfric, afraid if she did he would raise it into the war, like most Nord babies are forced to do. Astrid was determined to give the child a good life and clean up the last mistake she and Ulfric made.

"Astrid?" repeated Babette.

"Ulfric." she mumbled, "It was Ulfric." Both Gabriella and Babette gasped. There was a strong silence held in their shock. Astrid only looked dazed and straight ahead of her, lost in thought.

"What are you going to do?" muttered Gabriella, fully interested in the baby's future.

"I can't keep it… I'm not a mother. I have no knowledge of raising a child. I don't want to be selfish. It… will have to go to a different home."

"But what about Ulfric?" continued Gabriella.

"He can never know." snapped Astrid at the girls, her eyes being aimed directly at them. "I can't risk him raising the poor thing to be a soldier, nothing more than a pig, waiting for its slaughter." she began to sob slowly, "I just want it to never know us. It can never know us." Astrid began to caress her stomach, knowing that someone was in there, someone just like she and Ulfric was utterly terrifying. It was beyond her comprehension. Astrid wanted to admit she was doing this for the child… but she was giving the child away out of fear. She was terrified to give it a life it felt it was rushed into. What if the child hated her? She was an assassin, to raise something as pure as a baby could never be. It would end dangerously. Astrid thought of herself as an inevitable danger simply waiting to destroy this child if she chose to raise it. Astrid decided to do the baby a favor, to never know who she was.

"Whatever will happen… we'll back you up. But if you're really giving this child to a different home when he or she is born… you have to face the consequences. You will be with them for 9 months. Can you handle it?" asked Babette, her glowing eyes full of concern. Astrid glanced at Babette and nodded slowly. She was ready to clean up this mess. This was her burden.

As Astrid's pregnancy commenced a whole new chapter in her life was created. She spent most her time with her only female friends in the sanctuary, Babette and Gabriella. The men were so busy with their contracts they never even noticed Astrid was with child, Gabriella was busy giving out the contracts from Astrid with no questions asked, and Babette was helping her throughout the process. The process it's self… was slow and sad. Everyday her stomach grew bigger, everyday she remained in the sanctuary and everyday she thought how much she wanted to tell Ulfric. Yet she never did, whenever the idea came up she dismissed it right away and never even bothered to think on it. She was determined to give the child away, no matter how much guilt or reason convinced her to tell Ulfric.

"Astrid we have something we want to show you!" squeaked Babette as she skipped in her chambers with Gabriella. Astrid was officially 7 months in her pregnancy, her stomach round and a little one kicking up her ribs. She was busy grasping her stomach by the fireplace in her bedroom; the child was giving her immense pains. She was in long, loose fabrics that Babette had crafted for her; they fitted perfectly with her temporary body type.

"What is it?" asked Astrid, turning her head to them as she sat in the chair. Babette pulled out an old looking Black Gem fragment and held it in her hands smiling at it. Astrid saw the gem only as a useless piece of stone, her face went sour.

"It's just a piece of stone…" glowered Astrid, disappointed in there founded treasure. Gabriella immediately shook her head at this,

"No, no! This is a very special gem and the last of its kind, enchanted by Telvanni wizard's years ago. It never had a name, but was very popular with the impregnated dunmer women of Morrowind. It has the ability to tell you the sex of your baby!" Astrid looked back down at the gem with a charmed smile, Babette handed it to her graciously; scared if she did too quick she could drop it.

"It glows blue when it's a boy, and glows pink when a girl. Go on, try it!" encouraged Babette, excited herself to see the sex of the child. Astrid was hesitant; she wasn't sure what would happen when she discovered what gender it was.

"I don't know…" she cooed. "I don't want to get attached to it, like I said; I am still giving the child away. I already have a home picked out for them." Astrid was right, the home she had scoured forever to find was coming for their baby in 2 more months. They were Redguards from Elsweyr who were very interested in the child, who owed Astrid after a kill she traveled all the way to Hammerfell for.

"Well… come on… just try." muttered Babette, gently handing her the stone. Astrid could not deny she wanted to know the gender of the child, and she didn't want to leave Gabriella and Babette disappointed. Astrid lifted the stone from Babette's small palm, and held it in her own, staring intently at the magic of the gem. At first the gem didn't do anything, which left the three very disappointed. Then suddenly a shimmer came from within the purple gem. At first it looked blue, but as it went stronger and stronger, the magic glow of the gem turned a bright pink fuchsia; a pink. The child was a girl, a little baby girl.

"A girl…" sighed Gabriella. Astrid couldn't help reveal an amazed smile, she was to have a girl, the sex she always dreamed of having. She couldn't help a tear fall, even though Gabriella and Babette were right there. She was happy, the thought of what her daughter would be were endless. Even though she didn't want to attach to it or grow any relationship with her daughter, she had completely forgotten it when she thought of the girl in her belly. Astrid looked down to her stomach and lightly rubbed it.

"Little fairy sure knows how to kick." giggled Astrid as the baby still pummeled inside her. "She's going to be something else." Babette and Gabriella only stared at Astrid's happiness.

"This is not something assassins should cry over." stuttered Gabriella, wiping a tear from her eye. Babette also couldn't deny the moment either, she shed no tears, but the girl who had lived centuries was smiling to her ears. All three knew this child would not be with them when she was born, but more than anything they wanted her too. It was selfish to drag her into this life just because they wanted her to stay.

"You going to name her?" asked Babette. Astrid shot back,

"No, I can't. That's for her parents… her true parents."

"Aren't you..."

"No! We've talked about this…" Feeling it was right, they left Astrid to her thoughts. Neither of them believed Astrid didn't want to keep this baby; they went along with it because she did. More than anything, especially now, Astrid wanted to keep it. Yet no matter how much a voice screamed in her head to keep the girl, she couldn't. Everything was organized, and this life, considering Astrid's love beginning to grow for the child, she couldn't keep her in this life… because Astrid knew she could never let go of the mantle of "assassin". It was her birthright, something in her blood. This child was not to have the same.

On the night of Astrid's labor, she was only with Babette and Gabriella, who had taken her to a nearby cavern in order to keep the brothers from knowing. None of the brothers knew of Astrid's child and they were to never know. This secret would forever be known within the females of the Falkreath Sanctuary. The Redguard couple that had come for Astrid's daughter, were on their way as the labor continued and the lightening storm outside was flooding the paths.

"I'm, I… I'm not ready for this!" squealed Astrid, her legs spread and ready for the birth of her daughter. The cavern they were in was dank and hollow; growing with hanging moss and streams. They laid Astrid down on a blanket on the ground.

"You have to be! She's coming, Astrid!" yelled Gabriella as Astrid screamed and hollered in pain. The hair on her forehead was drenched with her own sweat and the blood rushed to her face with every push. Astrid never even knew there was pain like this, everything in her body was full of terrible ache. Babette was busy trying to deliver the child safely, as Gabriella held on tightly to Astrid's hand. Both of the girls were doing their absolute best to give birth to the child. Astrid however, was in so much pain she focused primary on screaming, pushing and squeezing the blood from Gabriella's hand. When the storm seemed to be settling, and the labor was ending, Astrid finally gave birth.

Right in front of their bewildered eyes, cried a small female little baby. Babette immediately cut the umbilical cord and washed off the infant in swaddling clothes. The child had finally been born, and Astrid's relief washed over her like a tidal wave.

"Give her to me." demanded Astrid, in a hoarse voice. Babette looked at her astonished, shocked she actually wanted to see the baby, but scared when she did, she would feel no need to give her away.

"Astrid… are you sure?"

"Now!" at Astrid's anger she gave her the calmed infant immediately. Astrid gently took the small child as gently as holding fragile glass, and took a long look at her offspring. Astrid didn't need this stuffy cavern to make her stop breathing at the sight of her child. She nearly froze at the sight of her, and everything in the world seemed to have stopped moving with her. The child finally opened her eyes and looked up at Astrid. There was no crying made in all of this, not from her or Astrid. They just stared at each other like it was what they were meant to do. The girl's eyes were rich blue, as blue as the sea. And even though she didn't have much, she had little red hair on her head. The child was the most beautiful thing Astrid had ever seen. If it wasn't for Babette, she would have sat there with her baby forever.

"Astrid… Astrid! The girl's parents are waiting at the sanctuary. We have to hurry before the brothers see them." Astrid snapped out of it immediately, tears beginning to wet her eyes.

"Her parents…?" she muttered. Astrid looked back down at her baby once again. She didn't want to give her away, not ever, how could she? Greed was robbing Astrid's emotions and turning her into an obsessed monster at the sight of her daughter. She was doing her best to fight against the greed; she knew the girl couldn't stay with her. Astrid tackled at these emotions with every fiber she had. She couldn't… she simply couldn't,

"Take her… take her! Just go and give her to them!" sobbed Astrid as she pushed the infant to Babette. The child instantly started screaming as she did so. "Just go! Please…" Babette's heart broke at the sight of Astrid, a feeling she never knew she would feel again. Gabriella was already nearing the exit of the cave.

"Babette, come on!" she hollered. Babette took her sad eyes away from Astrid and placed the baby in a flower basket.

"I'm so sorry, Astrid…" she grieved. Before Babette could make way for the exit Astrid pulled her back,

"Wait!" she squawked. "Put these in her basket, something to remember us by… so that one day… if she wants… she can find us." From the knapsack Astrid had brought with her when she went into labor (with only two things in it) she put a bottle of Astrid's berry scented fragrance in and a Talos amulet.

"The amulet I stole off Ulfric when we first started adventuring together… things worthless." giggled Astrid, sniffling and crying, "But maybe… it can be a reminder of her father." She placed the two things neatly with the baby.

"Now go…" Babette smiled at Astrid, feeling it was right to do so, and she fled with Gabriella out of the cave. Astrid was left alone, and all she had left was she and the pain her daughter had caused her physically and mentally. Astrid grabbed the top of her head, as her sobs soon turned to cries. She broke down; her wailing was heard throughout the cave, her voice raspy and croaking from the tears and pain. This was a sacrifice Astrid would never be able to forgive herself for; she would hate herself as long as she lived. Astrid was alone… her daughter was lost to her.


	10. Something We Found

Among the great plains of Skyrim, the wintery tundra that lay frosting its landscape as it now aged; people finally began to realize the great province changing. It was turning in a different direction then the stars intended, and now 20 years later, 20 years since Ulfric Stormcloak's journey with Astrid, the leader of the Dark Brotherhood, a new war was rising. The journey they had was scarcely a memory, none of them thought on it for a second, without fear of thinking of the people they used to be. The 2 decades they had spent from each other had finally stilled their minds. Ulfric and Astrid no longer had the luxury to love each other, the bitterness of what they promised never to do have happened; they had moved on.

Astrid's obsession with her sanctuary had grown to its deepest, she had forgotten Ulfric now that she was married to someone else, and she forgotten of her child, that only she, Babette and Gabriella knew about. She was determined to keep the birth of her offspring a secret; no one was to ever know besides the three. Her bitterness outweighed her guilt of leaving both Ulfric and her child in the past and she was now a stern and cold-hearted woman who only cared for what she had… instead of what she lost. Her husband, Arnbjorn, the werewolf she and Ulfric had rescued from the cave 20 years ago, was now a skilled assassin of the Dark Brotherhood under his wife's command. Not even Arnbjorn knew of the child Astrid birthed. The sanctuary she now ran was not as respectful in the Old Ways as it used to be, Astrid despised the Old Ways, the Night Mother… and Sithis. Her respect was only for the sanctuary and the sanctuary alone.

Ulfric the Jarl of Windhelm was also sinking into a bitter abyss. Now that all thoughts of Astrid seemed to have drifted from Ulfric's mind, he was more concentrated on the liberation of Skyrim than anything. As the 2 decades passed, Ulfric's war had finally started, his soldiers were now keeping safe of 5 holds, and he had finally killed the High King of Skyrim, Torygg, with his legendary Thu'um. This happened no more than a few months ago, after 20 years of planning. Now the war was eating away at his men and his homeland, he could feel the new found black rings form around his eyes. He felt stress that no one should be burdened with. It slowly twisted him to a life of depression, only concerned with winning over Skyrim from the Imperials.

"The dragon's attack on Kynesgrove has left the people of Eastmarch hopeless, they are looking to you for assurance," said Galmar, as his Jarl's eyes stayed fixed on the map table. Ulfric didn't bother to look up, he only groaned,

"Then they should look to the Dragonborn, where ever she may be."

"She is on a mission to reclaim a fort for you my Jarl" informed Galmar, "I have no knowledge when she or Ralof will be back." When Ulfric thought the war could ask for no more bloodshed, he was shocked to witness at his failed execution a dragon attacking Helgen. Him and his finest soldiers were captured by the Legion and sent to Helgen for an execution, along with the Nord to soon be known as "The Dragonborn". There he would have died if the dragon had not attacked. In a way, he was alive because of that dragon, and now that the Dragonborn was under his banner Ulfric's confidence in winning the war was absolute.

His numbers of soldiers willing to die for the homeland kept growing, and Windhelm was host to guards and soldiers with fire in their hearts. Even Ralof, the young boy Ulfric met in Riverwood so many years ago, when Ralof was no older than 6, joined his cause. Ralof had earned his spot as a Captain, he was no longer the little boy who nursed Ulfric back to health the day they met, but was the soldier he swore he would meet another day when Ralof was older. With Galmar, Ralof and the Dragonborn by his side, Ulfric knew he would have General Tullius' head on a pike soon enough. Suddenly he could hear the great doors to the Palace of Kings clank shut from the hall's echo, and laughing and cheering being heard from multiple soldiers' mouths.

"Ha! Looks like the liberation of the fort was successful… that should be Ralof now." cheered Galmar, with a proud grin as he walked to the hall to congratulate them. Ulfric finally relieved himself from the map table and looked to the door to beacon his accomplished warriors.

"I think I killed more Imperials then you… I was counting" bragged Ralof's voice.

"You just keep telling yourself that, grandma. You have to be blind if you didn't see that blood bath I just won!" boasted a raspy, childish and high pitch female voice as she walked to the map room with Ralof. Numerous laughs were heard and finally Ulfric's most trusted warriors walked into the room with bruises, cuts and looks of victory on their faces. Ralof proudly slapped the back of his female companion, their chuckles and pride endless.

"Lord Ulfric! The fort is ours, I'm sure we can start moving in Stormcloaks as soon as possible!" chuckled Ralof.

"Good… The Fort in Hjaalmarch is a great feat, soon we will be taking back Solitude if we keep up the progress" praised Ulfric. When Ulfric was proud of a soldier, or he was praising them, you could never really hear it in his voice. The words could be anything, but his flattened tone had given that grim feel about him and no one knew what he was thinking about.

"Sir is there anything else you need us to do?" asked the female soldier, standing proudly. The female was the fabled Dragonborn that everyone had seemed to be talking about. She was a cocky and arrogant little thing, always looking to make herself first in everything. She was a lot shorter than you'd expect a Dragonborn to look, short even for a female Nord, and a baby face of a typical fresh faced young woman. Her short fluffy red hair with the shade of snowberries was the first noticeable factor, along with her bronze skin. Then there were the pthalo blue eyes that were as blue as the ocean, the eyes gave a weary feeling to Ulfric, they stuck out the most to him. However, the female was known for her age. She was among the youngest of Ulfric's numbers, many saw her and would demand, "Who let the baby girl into this war?" Those who uttered this usually ended up with a black eye, granted by the girl's fist. She called herself "Mimzi", which was most certainly not a Nord name, it sounded like a name from the sand lands of Tamriel, Elsweyr and Hammerfell. Elsweyr was where she claimed to hail from, yet Ulfric did not take this into consideration, only that she was a great use in reclaiming Skyrim and one of the best soldiers he had.

"Galmar will have further plans for you at the camp, you and Ralof should start heading their immediately." Mimzi only tilted her head, as if she was expecting something different.

"Go on, now. Galmar is already on his way, I bet if you make haste you can get there before him." Ulfric chortled, knowing that would get Mimzi's attention. Her confusion went to an excited grin,

"Well then let's get going!" squeaked Mimzi to Ralof, "I bet 20 septims we can beat that old dog before he even makes it out of Eastmarch."

"I bet 100 I can beat you." smirked Ralof. Mimzi only looked at him with a startled stare, and then dashed out of the room knocking over kettles and baskets before he could. After Ralof quickly ran after her (like two children playing tag), Ulfric was finally left alone in his war room. There was a certain silence as all noise from his visitors had left, and he was back to his usual solitude. He enjoyed spending time alone now that the war had begun, it allowed him to think clearly and prepare attacks. Ulfric thought little of family. His father still had a respectful place in his heart, his mother still visited him when he dreamed, but thoughts of the assassin he had fell inlove with 20 some years ago was dormant. Even when the thought of her came up, he instantly dismissed it. He didn't want to get stuck in the flow of remembering the journey. Because he knew he would miss her, and missing her was so fragile at this point he didn't want to risk weakening. His strength was all he could count on right now, and he knew where ever Astrid was, she had moved on as well.

She had moved on, almost more than Ulfric. Astrid's ring around her finger that her husband had given to her seemed to have made that easier for her. Due to the war being such uproar around Skyrim she was reminded of Ulfric daily, scared one day she would see the Imperials celebrating the death of her former lover, one of the few men she ever did love. Yet she denied to think of it, the thought of Ulfric was like a black cloud just interrupting her life. She had no patience to fall weak, just like Ulfric did. Now that her sanctuary was slowly losing their respect among the land, becoming a rabble of typical cutthroats, she was eager to bring fear to the Dark Brotherhood name again. She began her mission to make the sanctuary whole again by bringing none other than the "Night Mother" herself, to be brought to the sanctuary by her Keeper. This only disturbed the Family, seeing the Keeper's presence was a lot more intolerable than she thought. So she recruited another assassin, which hasn't happened in years. The assassin showed promise at first, until she was pronounced "Listener" by the Night Mother, and Astrid's respect was weakening. None the less the "Listener" and "Keeper" spending so much time with each other lately, she couldn't help but presume them plotting against her. Astrid, even though she was not weak enough to say it, she was jealous of the assassin, jealous that now all the rest of her Family looked upon the new recruit with more respect she had ever been shown. Her sanctuary was falling apart, and all she wanted was for things… _to go back to the way they were_.

Things were beginning to look up slightly for the sanctuary now that they had received the most important contract ever given. When Astrid was sent to kill Ulfric, she thought that was as important as it gets being an assassin, but now that the sanctuary was working to kill the Emperor of Tamriel himself, her eyes were opened to a whole new respect she wasn't willing to pass up. This contract was instructed by the Night Mother to the new found Listener. And to separate the Listener from the Keeper, who calls himself "Cicero", Astrid instructed the Listener would take care of most of the contracts to follow up to Titus Mede ll's death. Even though this contract was as important as ever, she still regretted letting the Listener into her ranks. If she had the choice, she would have never had gone out to that Inn and kidnapped her. Asking her to join the sanctuary in that abandoned house. Astrid remembered it all, she remembered when the Listener first stepped in _her_ sanctuary.

"Well I've told you all about me" smiled Astrid as she leaned up against the wall leading down to the steps. "But what about you?" she asked, "What can _you_ tell me about yourself?" The Listener who was standing in front of Astrid only chuckled, removing her cowl and revealing her face.

"I'm Mimzi, I'm not one for backgrounds, nor am I one for hearing them. In truth the whole time you told me about yourself I was drifting off. I came to Skyrim for a start from an end, I need money and if killing poor bastards is the answer; then I'm ready. If you don't like the way I do my job, too bad, if you don't like my attitude, get it line. Just show me the ropes." Astrid instantly fell inlove with the young girl's attitude and spunk; she saw much promise in the girl's confidence. A lot of her young self displayed in Mimzi's eyes. Even though she looked small, Mimzi was bringing in more gold than ever. It wasn't until after Astrid sent Mimzi to spy on Cicero by hiding in the Night Mother's coffin did she discover the girl was the Listener. Now a potential friend Astrid could have had was always spotted with her little sidekick, Cicero. Mimzi and Cicero were the biggest problems Astrid had, and she was determined to get rid of them both.

The contracts were finally ending, and it was the big night of Titus Mede's death to be fulfilled. Mimzi was to go undercover as a famous chef of Tamriel, and feed the Emperor a poisonous dish reducing him to death. The contracts she had recently accomplished were finished flawlessly with the bonus waiting for her, and now that Cicero was presumed dead (as Astrid thought) it left no distractions for Mimzi. Yet this time Astrid had a plan to finally rid herself of the girl who had infringed everything she stood for. Astrid no longer cared for the death of the Emperor, she was losing respect, and this selfish need to protect her Family from Mimzi and endangering her spot as the leader drove her to wanting to murder the assassin that had brought the sanctuary so much victory. Astrid was now rid of Cicero, and Mimzi was the only puzzle piece to be destroyed.

"I guess this is it" breathed Mimzi, her eyes full of anguish. "I guess I'm off to kill the Emperor of Skyrim- oops… I mean Tamriel, but I am not wearing the chef hat." Mimzi held the hat in her hands, she growled at the thought of it on her head. Astrid chuckled,

"Suck it up, princess. You pull this off; you'll have all the sanctuary at your feet." Mimzi only hesitated at that thought, never being so keen of leadership.

"Ehhh… I'm not so sure about that. The feet smell pretty bad and well…" she stopped to think, "I should get going. Those bozos protecting the Emperor should be there pretty soon." As soon as Mimzi was off to kill Titus, Astrid had sent a courier to Commander Muro, the lead of the Penitus Oculatus. She wasn't certain about any of this, but she knew when Mimzi returned with the news of the Emperor being dead, all of the sanctuary would want her to be the leader. Astrid would be dismissed and forgotten, she would lose her respect that she guarded so closely. She didn't care for Mimzi enough to think this through, and before she knew it the letter was sent to Muro before she had a chance to rethink it. The letter stated specifically what time Mimzi would be arriving and that if they killed her they had to agree to leave the sanctuary alone forever. But Astrid was deceived…

Suddenly mobs of the Penitus Oculatus were herding outside their sanctuary, burning everything to a crisp. Festus, feeling the most confident among them ran outside to overwhelm them with fireballs. This ended terribly, and he was shot with a galore of arrows. Veezara, who was willing to die to protect his home fell mortally wounded among the now burning and scorching sanctuary, he too being one of Astrid's closest friends had fallen. Even Gabriella, Astrid's best friend among the Dark Brotherhood was also killed, the blame being Astrid's fault. She slowly succumbed to the fact all of this was her fault, and she fled to her quarters to hide from the inevitable death waiting for her. She saw the dead body of her husband, Arnbjorn, and slowly it became obvious all of this was over. Astrid crawled to her quarters with the hot tears of failure wetting her face. All she could think about was Ulfric, as cruel and sad as it was he came back to taunt her. Every memory they had together, soon she would be gone from this world… knowing she could still be alive if she had only agreed to being with him. Astrid would have taken a life of dullness if it meant being with Ulfric, every choice she made after she left him was selfish and now that she was to die it only seemed a cruel act of Sithis to make her realize this now.

As soon as Astrid finally reached her room, which was filling with smoke that stuffed her lungs, she felt an odd metal object under palm; Astrid picked it up feeling certain familiarity to it. It was a Talos amulet that for some odd reason was now in her destroyed sanctuary. Then there was a distant spark in her brain as memory fed back to her. It was the amulet that belonged to Ulfric, another taunt of the gods to realize she had lost the two things she loved the most, Ulfric and her baby, where ever she may be.

"_She is here…."_ whispered a suffering voice in Astrid's brain, a voice of a woman. "_She was here. You sent them to kill the child you had forgotten all these years, Astrid. Yet she still lives, and when she returns you will be dying. You have ruined everything in your life."_ It was the Night Mother herself echoing inside Astrid's brain, telling her of the troubles she had caused. Astrid looked down to the amulet again, wiping the ash from her face. The Talos amulet from Ulfric… she left in the basket of her child when she gave her away. Slowly Astrid began to weep, realizing what she had done. The amulet belonged to the girl she loathed ever since she gained power, the girl she sent men to kill; Mimzi was her daughter.

"No..." croaked Astrid, "No this can't be."

"_Mimzi now will never know of you, her parentage will forever be lost now that you and the amulet will parish. All because of you! There is a dark abyss awaiting you in the Void, Astrid."_ She twitched and she felt an ache in her stomach of such great regret. Astrid was a fool… and she knew it now. Tears streamed down her face. All of this was in vain, her Family was now dead, her daughter would never know who she was and Astrid was soon to die, and forever be tortured in the Void. She believed all of it now, all these years of living and hating religion of all types she was going to pay for her life of blasphemy. She would die knowing she could have lived a good life with Ulfric, and even with Mimzi. They could have been a family if she didn't make a wrong turn every time. Leaving Ulfric, giving up Mimzi, being remarried and nonetheless trying to kill her own daughter. Astrid knew she deserved torture, and was prepared for whatever lay ahead. Yet Astrid did one more thing before the flames engulfed her, one more selfish act she would pay for in the Void, yet she was willing to pay it. In her last moments she grabbed a piece of charcoal and parchment, and wrote to Ulfric Stormcloak, Mimzi's father. The air being packed with smoke and the walls falling apart around her made it hard for her to write, and even see. She made the writing as coherent as possible before she fell unconscious.

When Mimzi returned to her sanctuary to save her Family, she found Astrid, along with Nazir and Babette, the only survivors. Astrid however, was hardly a survivor. Her flesh was nearly melted to the bone, she could barely speak or breathe and the pain she was in was unbearable. Yet even though she was desperate to tell Mimzi who she was, she couldn't, not even in her dying moments. She didn't want to burden Mimzi while she was in such a tragic form. Ulfric, who was still alive and well, was trusted to tell Mimzi of her parents. Luckily Babette found the letter before Nazir or Mimzi did and in respect for her former leader, delivered the letter via courier to the Palace of Kings.

"Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak…" muttered the courier respectfully as he stood before the Jarl's throne. "I have a letter for you." Ulfric looked at the dirty parchment the courier was handing him. It didn't have anywhere near the value of most letters Ulfric got, and this intrigued him.

"Who is it from?" he asked, his great voice echoing off the walls.

"They didn't say, sir, just that you needed to read it." Ulfric finally gathered the letter as the courier walked out of his palace. Ulfric opened the letter to reveal the messy and almost unreadable charcoal writing. Once he read a particular familiar name, he choked. Ulfric closed the letter immediately, his emotionless face turning alarmed. It was a letter from Astrid, the woman he had sworn to forget. He still needed to read the letter because of this. So he fled to his map room to read the letter alone. Ulfric settled himself down on a bench certain he was unprepared to read it. Still he opened the parchment, and began reading:

_Ulfric,_

It has been years since we last seen each other, and at times when I think of you and the adventure we had, I can't deny how much I miss you. I now suffer in the sanctuary as my minutes are spent and my death is nearing. When parted due to our differences I never regretted it, because it was for the best of both of us. But now if I could I'd go back in time, I would leave with you in a second. For the sake of not only you and me, but something I left behind, and now something I found. I write this letter in my last breathes to inform you of your child. When she was born I didn't want to risk her life to our troubles. Something as precious and innocent as a baby Nord deserved better. I never told you this out of worry of you absconding her, and forcing her into your foolish war. Also how I cannot face you after all we've been through. I was a fool for keeping her from you. The amulet you gave me was left in her basket as I gave her to her new parents; Redguards who seem honest enough. For years I regretted giving her away, which was one my few regrets. Now that fate has seemed to pass me again, I have come upon her. The same amulet hangs from her neck as I hold it in my hand. It is a pity I now discover her, and wretched knowing how she was living under my roof the entire time and I was too foolish to see it. She is a vision of you, my love, a beautiful, fresh-faced young lady, with red hair like snowberries. Her eyes... a sea blue. Her name is Mimzi, find her and..."

Ulfric's tears that he hadn't shed in years slowly fell from his eyes. He was beyond words at this point as he read the letter which was too much of him to take in. He was certain it must have been a lie of which he was reading. Yet the words made so much sense to him it was hard to believe. He heard of the burning of the sanctuary earlier that morning by his men, however like most rumors within the guards he was sure it was just a lie. Now it was approved that Astrid was dead, _his_ Astrid was dead. A flash of their journey came back to Ulfric in a flow of cards. He remembered almost being killed by the assassin who was merely "doing her job", in these very halls. He remembered the two fighting off over 5 Forsworns in the Hjaalmarch forest. The attack of the werewolves where they had their first kiss and the dwemer ruin Astrid almost lost her life in. Then finally the ending of Amaric's foolish plan to raise Boethiah, the quest it led up to. He thought saying farewell to Astrid would give them both a new chapter to their lives. They would find closure if they were not with each other was the most foolish assumption he ever made. Now he couldn't rescue her from whatever conflict she was in. Astrid was gone; he was never going to see her again. The pain struck him like a punch to the gut, or a slap to the face. The realization was the worst feeling he could ever endure. And the worst feeling ever was brought to him; he had a daughter for all these years and never knew it. This girl who he was sending off to do his bidding, endangering her life for him was his offspring and he hadn't the slightest clue till now. Even though he couldn't help it, Ulfric felt like a fool. He felt like he not only let down Astrid but Mimzi as well. He didn't even know Mimzi, but he felt like he had to know her in order for himself to sleep at night. She was his daughter, her blue eyes the exact same shade as his fathers, the Great Bear of Eastmarch. Mimzi in all literal sense, was all he had left.

"Sir!" hollered a guard, disturbing his peace. "Ralof and his men are back, the mission was a success!" As soon as the guard saw his Jarl troubled and broken, he cowered out of the map room immediately. Once again the doors of the Palace of Kings were heard as they clanked shut. The shuffling of the soldiers coming in was everywhere as they laughed.

"Where's Jarl Ulfric? We need to speak to him." laughed Mimzi, her voice the only female tone among the grumbles of men. Ulfric took a deep breath at the sound of her voice. He crushed the letter in his palm. Now was the moment… he was to introduce himself to his daughter.


	11. Mimzi

Getting the story of Mimzi's past out of her would be more difficult than wrestling a Frost Giant with no weapons and no bystanders. Maybe with a few pretty gold coins, some sweet words and a few ales in her you could get Mimzi to do anything, but you'd always end up regretting it. Either she would break your heart, break your arm or rob you blind, there was really no telling in what Mimzi would do, but the smartest thing to do is to stay clear of her. Mimzi was the exact opposite of a typical Nord woman, she was a small thing, and at first glance you would think she was a Breton. Yet there was a glow of her that gave off the typical aura of her ancestral home. She was a Nord, nonetheless, a snobby, confident girl just looking for all the bad roads, so she can walk all of them and still manage to get out alive. Mimzi's past is not as complex as you would think. She never knew her birth parents, but regardless she had parents. They were not the guardians her birth mother expected. Mimzi was given to Redguards, yet somehow her childhood was spent in Elsweyr with Khajiits.

On the day Astrid gave birth to Mimzi, as a skilled assassin in the Dark Brotherhood she knew raising the child could never be possible. A Redguard couple which Astrid was meeting with decided they would be more than happy to give her daughter a good home. So Mimzi was given to the couple in secret from her other associates and they left for Elsweyr, the province where the Redguard couple were living.

When they arrived in the stirring sands and harsh winds of the desert with a crying baby in their possession, the couple revealed their true bitterness in that hour. With winds getting harsh, the horses being weighed down, and the baby girl crying endlessly was reaching their intolerance. Finally when the tolerance ran short, and the careless Redguards had realized their mistake, they left the baby's basket in the middle of the desert. Neither of them cared at that point what would happen to her, and in truth they felt good leaving the screaming infant to die by whatever means in the sand lands.

For 26 hours, the child screamed and wailed continuously as her basket filled with the sand being pulled from wind. The sun was beginning to set and she shivered and froze as the night crept over Elsweyr's desert. She survived the whole night and the child would have died in those sands if a humble Khajiit man hadn't heard the baby's cries. The Khajiit was named Shavir, and he was on his way back from a settlement to his home when he heard the baby Nord. He immediately sped over to her and picked up the basket that was filling with sand. Shavir rescued the baby and took the amulet from her basket, certain it was something that belonged to her. Shavir's wife Kali was horrified to learn of the child's abandonment, and both gratefully agreed to raise the girl as their own.

They lived in the city of Dune, which was near the border of Valenwood. The city was not surrounded by badlands, but by tropical forests and large earthly trees which mostly likely was because Valenwood was so close. The baby girl was soon given the name "Mimzi", a rare name, even for Khajiits. Shavir, being an expert in alchemy and herbs was fascinated with plants. He knew of one in particular that was exclusive in Elsweyr and Hammerfell. It was a flower that could grow in the hottest temperatures, even in droughts. The flower was called a Mimzi lily, and was used in potions for resistance against fire. Now that it was extinct, he felt it was the perfect name for his daughter; a one of a kind. That, and he found it profound how the petals of the flower were blue and red, and Mimzi's eyes and hair were the same colors as well.

Mimzi grew up as a typical Khajiit child. Her family on the brink of poverty, yet somehow they always managed get by. Her mother was a tailor, who was inspired to make her daughter the most wanted woman in Elsweyr, and her father was one of the alchemists in town. He had a lot of competitors, so his business didn't get much attention with the rich folk. Yet he was always the one to go to if you didn't have as much gold in your pockets. Mimzi enjoyed playing with the boys more than the girls, seeing every time she played rough with the young ladies they would begin bawling. She got in trouble a lot regardless. Mimzi was always into something she wasn't supposed to. Either it was stealing from a general good store, playing practical pranks on adults or beating up boys, she was seen as "trouble".

When Mimzi was no more than 9 years old, she saw a couple of Imperial boys bullying a dunmer boy, no older than her. She immediately saw to this,

"Hey!" she shouted, stomping up to the Imperials with her fists clenched, "Leave him alone, skeever butt!" The biggest Imperial boy (among the three of them) let go of the dark elf's collar to point his wrath on Mimzi, making the dunmer thud to the ground. The boy let out a mischievous laugh at the small girl. She was shorter than him, yet Mimzi stood tall with her chest out and her hands on her hips.

"What you gonna' do, little girl? Tell on me?!" His other friends bellowed in laughter, the poor dark elf was more scared than ever, Mimzi however, was not intimidated in the slightest. "Why don't you run on back home to your daddy? Little ankle biters like you can't fight worth squat, nonetheless a girl!"

Mimzi suddenly grabbed the ear of the lead bully and pulled it down to her knee as fast as light, making the Imperial collapse to the ground. Upon seeing this, the second bully charged at Mimzi, only to have his groin met harshly with her foot. Finally the last bully, a smaller lad, dashed away cowardly from Mimzi's fist.

"WIMPS!" she screeched as the other boys followed his lead and ran away. The Dark elf boy looked up at Mimzi gratefully and said, "Thanks" before he also ran away, a little intimidated by Mimzi's furiosity.

"Mimzi!" called out her mother, Kali, who was walking to Mimzi sternly with both hands on her hips. Kali had probably seen half of what had happened, and she was appalled to see her daughter acting like such a brute. "Did you just beat up those boys?! Young lady, do you have any idea what you have done?" her Khajiit mother's voice snapped, her catlike eyes furious. Mimzi only looked up at her mother sniffling, trying to win her over with the "adorable" routine.

"They were bullying that poor Dark Elf boy, mum! What did you expect me to do, just keep walking?"

"No ofcourse not, but you should never _attack_ them! You're a lady! What you do is you come to an adult when you see something like that; never take it into your own hands." Kali badgered, shaking her finger at her.

"They were being smart-mouthed little jerks, they needed a good smack down." squeaked Mimzi, punching her palm with her fist.  
"Oh! Come on!" hissed Kali, grabbing her daughters hand and dragging her back to their house. Mimzi knew she was in trouble, but after living her

life which was full of trouble she was used to it. As soon as her father got home, Kali was certain Mimzi would be taught a lesson about being behaved… but the exact opposite happened.

"Ho-ho-ho! I wish I could have been there, little lily! The look on those boys' faces must have been priceless! Priceless!" chuckled Shavir as he slapped his knee from the story his daughter told. Mimzi smiled at her father, proud of herself that her papa was so pleased.

"Oh, you two are hopeless…" Kali sighed, pouring some tea for her husband. "You are supposed to be telling her of her faults! Once those boys' mothers find out about this, I will be horker meat!" Shavir stopped his laughing at this and nodded, seeing his wife's perspective. Shavir loved that his daughter could handle herself. He was proud the fact she didn't need to run home to her parents in order to deal with a problem. But even little war maidens need to be tucked in bed by their fathers. Every night when he finished his tea, he would carry little Mimzi to her bed and lay her down for a bed time story. Shavir's love for Mimzi was a treasured thing. He felt in a literal aspect, that she really was an only flower that had to be protected and nourished.

"Was mommy right, daddy? Am I… being too brutish?" Mimzi whimpered as she looked up to her father in her bed, her blue eyes almost hypnotizing. Shavir smiled lightly as he adjusted and made Mimzi's blankets more comfortable.

"Ehh, I wouldn't say brutish… now-a-days a woman or child who can prove their strength will always be presumed as brutish. But there is a difference between strength and brutish nature. A young man who can carry his wife to the temple for child birth… that's strength, an elder who can still find himself fighting for his country for the 3rd time, that is strength, and a little girl who is not held back by her age or her gender to take on 3 bullies… now that is strength."

"So you're saying what I did was right?" she asked. Shavir shook his head,

"No… even though I think it was brilliant! I have to side with your mother on this one. Just because you can beat up those boys doesn't mean you should, that strength you have…" Shavir leaned in to his daughter, holding her hands, "is something you should only use when it feels right. You felt powerful when you beat them up, but you didn't feel right… did you?" Mimzi shook her head wordless to her father, knowing what he was saying was truth. "I'm sure if you had went to go speak to those bullies they would have tried to hear you out, and for all you know those boys were being taunted as well. You just have to be more self-aware when it comes to those around you, okay babe? I remember when I first found you on that hot desert morning. My passion and consideration for others kicked in that day when I saw you, I mean… just thinking about it now if I had kept walking is the most painful thing. This amulet…" Shavir then opened a side drawer and pulled out the Amulet of Talos he had found in her basket. "-is all that remains of your birth parents. My consideration and love for you is so strong I have given this amulet to you so that when you get older you can find them, and know where you came from." Shavir then placed the amulet in his daughter's palm, only to have it put back in his.

"I don't want to know who they are, and I don't want to know where I came from. I already know who I am. You're my family and I come from here." Mimzi lunged at her father with a hug, and Shavir embraced his little girl tightly sure if he didn't she would drift away. He was more than blessed to have such a grateful and loving daughter. It did not trouble him in the slightest that she didn't care about her birth parents, because all Shavir cared about was Mimzi being happy. The Khajiit would do anything to protect his Nord daughter, even if it meant his death being confirmed.

The brave father lived up to this on the day Thalmor agents came to Dune. Mimzi had turned 12 years old and was playing a game with a few boys from the city, she was role-playing as the recently banished god, Talos, and so she was wearing her Talos Amulet. As soon as the agents saw the little girl running around with a wooden sword and the amulet dangling from her neck they stopped her instantly.

"Stop there, child!" demanded an agent to Mimzi, pulling her back by the arm. "What do you think you are doing with this amulet?" Mimzi began to stutter, being only a child she was greatly scared of the Thalmor,

"We… we're just playing a game." she muttered, her face terrified. The agent then snapped the amulet off her neck, certain if it was just a "game" it wouldn't be any use to her. "Hey! That's mine!" Mimzi cried, clawing and jumping up to the High Elf who was holding it just above her reach.

"Ahh, heretics come in all shapes and sizes now. I wouldn't expect any different from a Nord." growled the male High Elf, glaring down at Mimzi.

"Hey!" hollered Shavir, jogging over to the commotion, "What's going on? Mimzi… are you okay?" Mimzi quickly cowered behind her father, peeping over to the Thalmor agent in fear.

"Is this your child, sir? I'm guessing… adoption." guessed the agent, crossing his arms.

"What does it matter?" Shavir hissed, "What business do you have with my daughter, and why…" Shavir went still at the sight of the agent holding Mimzi's Talos Amulet. He knew exactly what trouble his family was in. Mimzi was a Talos worshipper; the god was her "hero", and lying over it was impossible at this point seeing how strict Thalmor have become with the banishment of revering Talos.

"I see you know of this amulet. Mind telling me why your daughter has it in her possession" the Altmer snarled. Shavir began to stutter, and he held his daughter closer to him.

"People find many things…" he fibbed; Shavir could see in the Altmer's eyes he was not convinced.

"You know you are the 3rd person with possession of a Talos Amulet who has told me that in the last week. They… have all been arrested for their treachery."

"Please" Shavir whispered, "Let the girl be, you people have so much more important things to attend to." The High Elf than grabbed Shavir by the collar and pulled him close,

"Watch yourself, cat. Don't you think for a moment what my duty entitles for me to do, you know nothing. None of you beasts can comprehend a thought." Mimzi then started smacking away at the Thalmor's waist, seeing it was all she could reach.

"Let him go, blowhard!" The agent chuckled at the little girl's insolence. Shavir only tried to hold her back. Soon this commotion was gaining the attention of villagers, and they began to gather. Another Thalmor agent, a female High elf, rushed over to what her associate was up to and stopped him.

"Stop!" she yelled, grabbing him away to speak to him quietly, "Too many eyes…" she whispered. Shavir picked up Mimzi now that he was released from the agents hand. The two agents glared at the two with their final word before walking off, "Don't think this is over…" and tossed Mimzi back her amulet and they were gone. Before Mimzi could ask anything, Shavir rushed her to Kali's shop and told his wife what had happened, and they raced back to the house.

Mimzi was terrified at how panicked her parents were. They were not saying a word to her, instead they pulled out ever basket and knapsack they could find and started packing. Kali and Shavir needed to leave Dune immediately, they were off to Valenwood so the Thalmor could not track them and so they could protect their daughter. Mimzi was oblivious to all of this, she knew what had happened was bad but she had no idea why they had to leave.

"Can someone please tell me what is happening? You're both scaring me!" she cried, tears beginning to drip down her rosy cheeks. Shavir shoved all of Mimzi's toys and clothes in a knapsack as he turned to his daughter with an answer,

"That man we met today, he is… a bad man, a man who doesn't like those who like Talos."

"I know who the Thalmor are, pa." Mimzi advised, crossing her arms. Shavir let out a sigh as his wife ran across the house finding other things to take with them,

"What I'm trying to say is they're coming for you, and when they find you they will not only hurt me and mommy, but they will take you too! I will never let that happen…" Kali returned to her family with baskets full of essentials,

"We're in danger, little lily." she quivered, "Those people didn't hurt you in public because of what you are. Can you imagine what people would say about the Thalmor? It is bad enough they are dragging off adults for revering Talos, imagine dragging off children! They will come tonight, I'm sure of it, and do what they must privately, it's who they are." Mimzi began to cry at what her mother was saying. The little girl was being burdened with so much alarming news she couldn't rightly take it in. Kali comforted Mimzi when she saw the first look of terror occur on her face after what she said.

"We will be leaving for Valenwood very soon. It's alright, my love, I promise your father and I can keep you safe there." After drying her daughter's tears, Kali ran for outside to check if anyone in Hooded Thalmor Robes or Elven Armor was coming their way. Shavir was finally done his pack and he knelt down to Mimzi with his hands on her shoulders,

"I promise we will find safety in Valenwood. We will be fine."

"I'm just scared, I don't want to leave, why-"

"We are doing this because we love you so much. I love you so much, and I will not lose you to the Thalmor. If this is what we must do to keep you, I am willing to do so. There is so much I would do for my lily." interrupted Shavir, who himself looked like he was on the brink of crying. He embraced his daughter desperately as if this was the last time he was to see her. Their hug was interrupted by Kali, who came in with fear in her voice,

"They are coming! They saw me, we... can't run, what do we do?!" Shavir released his daughter at his wife's panicking. Mimzi's heartbeat was thumping on her ribs; the fear in the room was hopeless. Shavir was out of ideas; he had no other ways to protect his daughter but only one.

"Okay… get in the wardrobe, Mimzi; you are small enough to fit. Go quickly!" Shavir hissed.

"What? No!"

"It is the only way we can protect you… please, do this for me." Her father's eyes were filling with tears, and seeing the man she loved most in the world so broken left her with no choice but to abide by his last command.

"…But what about you and mommy?" Mimzi sniffed. Kali looked down at Mimzi with a smile, a smile that read her farewell; a sacrifice.

"We'll do what we must." smiled Shavir, a tear falling from his eye and wetting his fur. He rested both his soft furry hands on Mimzi's cheeks and kissed her forehead, not sure if this was a farewell or a temporary parting. "Mimzi, whatever you do… promise me you will not leave the wardrobe. You will not say a peep or even move, and above all you will not look." She gasped as she nodded her head, too scared to speak. Shavir then picked up his daughter and placed her lightly in the wardrobe (just by the far end of the right corner of the room) and gave her one last smile before closing the wardrobe doors and concealing her in the dark space.

Suddenly the sound of the door being kicked open tuned in Mimzi's ears, and 4 additional footsteps (and clanking of light armor) were heard. Even though she promised, Mimzi couldn't sit in the corner of the wardrobe with her eyes closed. She looked through the crack of the closed door to see what was happening. There were 3 Thalmor agents in Elven armor, and the man she met in the city, who was robed in a Thalmor hooded outfit. The all slowly surrounded her parents, and the lead Thalmor demanded,

"Where is the girl?!" he snapped his fingers at the agent behind him to unsheathe his blade, which he did. Shavir ambled over to his wife, which he pulled close to protect.

"We sent her away, you really think the stunt you pulled in the city wouldn't have alarmed us? We gave her away with a relative to Valenwood, you'll never find her!" Shavir then grabbed an iron dagger from the table and charged at a Thalmor with armor. He stuck the blade into her neck, making the female High Elf die at his feet. The other two agents and the one in robes immediately started to attack, but Kali started throwing dangerous poison bottles at them that her husband concocted. This escalated tragically, and the robbed Thalmor struck a lightening spell at Mimzi's mother which resulted in her death. Mimzi's eyes widened at the sight of her mother dying in front of her eyes, fear and sadness raged in her heart. She could not speak, nor could she move.

"KALI!" howled Shavir, dashing over to his fallen wife. But before he could the robbed and hooded Thalmor grabbed Shavir by his shoulders and stuck an elven blade through his back out the front of him. Mimzi's big and traumatized blue eye shed a tear as she watched through the crack of the wardrobe doors. Her fear was like a paralytic poison, Mimzi was unable to move and the sight of her family's death… she could only cry like a statue unmoving. Shavir glanced over to the wardrobe as the Thalmor kept his blade in the Khajiit's body. He ached and let out painful gasps as he looked at the innocent blue eye that starred at him through the doors, and finally the Thalmor ripped the blade out of him and Shavir fell breathless. Mimzi then crept into the corner of the wardrobe as silently as she possibly could and remained silent. Finally the Thalmor agents had left the house after a quick search for the girl, and Mimzi was left alone.

The house was left soundless, and when the birds of morning had finally began to chirp, Mimzi opened the wardrobe. Her eyes were closed tightly and she hopped out from the wooden doors. Her small feet lightly walked on the stone floor of her home. The smell of blood was the most wretched thing Mimzi could ever breathe in; it made her cry even more as she opened her eyes. Her parent's bodies lied side by side with each other in a pool of their blood. Mimzi collapsed next to them; she turned her father's body on his back and laid her head on his chest. She wailed and bawled knowing that she was all alone in the world now. The tears wetting her face was like climbing out of a pond, and the pain and loneliness in her ached. But the anger was the strongest fire in her head, it raged and torched until all she wanted was to get revenge on the High Elves who killed her parents. They sacrificed themselves to protect her, now she would do her part of the honor and avenge them.


	12. The Great Bear- The Final Chapter

Now that Mimzi was homeless and had literally nowhere to live, and no one who wanted her, she became a beggar on the street. She was cared by some of the other homeless Khajiits who merely felt sorry for her, the other scum who tried to hurt or rape her were beaten senselessly by Mimzi. She would train herself everyday for the dangers of living on the street could cause, and the revenge she was soon to get on the Hooded Thalmor who killed her family. Now that she was getting older, Mimzi's value in strength, fighting, skill and recklessness grew. Her only concern was for herself.

When Mimzi reached her teen years she began practicing thievery out in the city. She was always pretty good at stealing from stores, but now it was the only thing she could do to survive. In fact Mimzi grew so adept at pick pocketing, picking locks and stealing from stores that she found it as good sport; _fun_. She was only 14 when this started, and even then she was considered to be a decent thief.

When Mimzi turned 15, she learned the name of the High Elf man who had killed her mama and papa. His name was Neleran, and he was currently residing in Senchal, a city full of thugs and inequity. Mimzi made her journey to the place right away (after stealing a horse) and started her search for "Neleran". Even though her goal was to kill him, she was no stealth assassin yet. Mimzi had aged variously since the last time Neleran had seen her, she was now a 15 year old young lady and she was certain the High Elf wouldn't immediately recognize her at the first sight. She was determined to get on his good side, then when the time was right she would proceed. So she disguised herself as a prostitute and even though she was not adept with speech, she easily persuaded Neleran to sleep with her. Right when they got in a private room and Neleran was an inch from taking her lower clothes off Mimzi cut his throat. This was her first step in becoming an assassin; her first kill. Mimzi didn't feel good about getting revenge, nor did she feel bad about killing Neleran. All she knew was the story would never be told to anyone. Mimzi needed a fresh start, she had to leave Elsweyr.

After staying in Cyrodiil for a couple of months, Mimzi was overwhelmed by the Thalmor population in most of the cities. She grew tired of hiding, and decided to move to another province. Mimzi was then captured by Imperial soldiers on her way across Skyrim's border, and her prophetic journey started from there. Unknowingly she met her birth father, Ulfric Stormcloak, and then she escaped the attack of the dragon at Helgen with one of his comrades.

Her quest began to flow instantly after she arrived in Skyrim. Mimzi discovered she was a part of an ancient bloodline that went back to the dragon's rule. Soon many people started addressing her as "Dragonborn", which she knew little meaning of. Mimzi had no idea how to use her powers as "Dragonborn" until she went to the Greybeards in High Hrothgar, a peaceful retreat for the monks of the Thu'um. There she stayed willingly for 13 weeks to learn what it was like to be a Dragonborn, or more specifically to use the Way of the Voice. The shouting at first was little to her; she mainly wanted to learn why everyone cared about it so much. The Thu'um became Mimzi's prime thought that she was anxious to control. She had no idea who her birth parents were at the time, and to finally discover that she was a descendant of someone of the Dragon blood was almost too much to handle. After the Greybeards tried to convince Mimzi to use her Thu'um peacefully and for the worship of Kynareth, she happily left. The young Nord was able to smell when people were trying to control her, and even if they were genuinely trying to help her, she wouldn't spend the rest of her days shouting on a mountain.

The Greybeards had no control over Mimzi, so they let her leave and respected her wishes as Dragonborn. Even though Mimzi was a disappointment to them, the Greybeards were then visited by another Dovahkiin who was far more dedicated of the same era, the only other one to be revealed. A young Orc from a stronghold near Markarth, they found it ironic how two such unsuspected people could share blood of such power. Yet Mimzi and this other Dragonborn never came into contact, and not like Mimzi would ever want to. As time grew, her path of being Dragonborn was paused for a while as she set out on another chapter of her life.

Mimzi's path grew bitter for a while, and in desperation and lack of a home she joined the Dark Brotherhood. Mimzi's leader Astrid grew a liking to her almost instantly when she joined. Her respect for herself and little respect for others aided her in this. Yet it wasn't long till Mimzi began to feel pity for her targets. Even though Mimzi was condescending, brutish, pessimistic and arrogant, she never had the gut for being a murderer. Her first contracts proved this and joining the assassin's guild was becoming a mistake she regretted. Even though the money she was receiving was plentiful, and she no longer needed to sleep in the sanctuary she still felt rancid. Her worship of Talos was at fault for this. Mimzi was brave enough to take a life, but unlike her god, she was too cowardly to spare one.

Mimzi decided to join something only a true Nord would offer up their lives for; the Stormcloak Army. Doing contracts for the Dark Brotherhood, and fighting battles for her kinsmen made her guilt disappear for a while. But it was soon when she realized all of it was just an illusion blanketing her thoughts on murder and reverence of "_Sithis"_. She was on the brink of leaving the Brotherhood until she grew a friendship with the Night Mother's Keeper, who had arrived no more than a month after she joined the Stormcloaks. _Cicero_ was his name and he was an exuberant, insane, homicidal madman who was obsessed with his extensive role-play as a "jester". At first this irritated Mimzi and she had no intention of even conversing with him. Until her pity got the best of her and she had a great sympathy for the Imperial, and as she spent more time with him (seeing he was the only welcoming individual in the sanctuary) she became fast friends with him.

Cicero was annoying; pestering. Even though it got on Mimzi's nerves occasionally… she still found herself in his company. Astrid, the leader of the sanctuary, instantly suspected the two plotting against her, and now that Mimzi had been labeled as "Listener" it was all too obvious for Astrid that Mimzi was after her honor as the leader. But in truth Mimzi could care less, it was the new name that the Night Mother herself had whispered to her that bothered her. Becoming Listener made Mimzi feel hopeless; like she was never able to leave. On a grim cloudy day, just outside the Falkreath sanctuary did Mimzi study on this; along with her eccentric and clownish friend.

"It is the greatest honor to be rewarded to an assassin of the Dark Brotherhood, listener! Why can't you see it like _I_ see it? I'll give you my eyes! My ears…? My thoughts?" pitched Cicero, as he plunked himself down next to Mimzi who was settled on an aging log. "Listener? Listener? Uhm… Mi- wait, no. Oh no… I, _I've forgotten your name!_ Oh dear, foolish Cicero, I can't believe it. Is it Mixy? Mizma? Oh, I am so sorry, Listener, I-" A flick to the forehead came to Cicero and he suddenly stopped his ranting at what Mimzi did.

"It's Mimzi… and it's fine. Now just… stop talking." she looked down glumly at her hands, which were fidgeting endlessly. "What… what does it mean though? Why would she pick me, like that makes NO sense? She should've picked you." she rambled, pointing her finger aggressively at Cicero, who only tilted his head at it.

"Well, I…" Cicero blushed, kicking around his feet making the dust of the ground swirl. "No… no, no, no, no, no Mother was right to pick you, Mim... Mi… uhh, Listener! And to ignore it is to defy, oh yes the Night Mother never lies!" Mimzi looked back up at Cicero completely agitated, begging with her eyes for her clownish friend to be quiet. Cicero took this as a look of sadness, begging with her eyes for comfort. He then wrapped his arms around Mimzi's small torso; she nearly froze at the act. Cicero rested his head next to Mimzi's and spoke softly, even for a homicidal jester.

"Poor Listener isn't ready, poor Listener is scared to serve our Lady like I do…"

"Cicero, you are hugging me-"

"And dear Cicero will always be there for Listener, no matter what she says I will be there to keep care of naive, arrogant and silly little Listener!" Mimzi let out a groan at Cicero, certain not even he could understand. Her hopelessness of being the Night Mothers puppet was like a trap. Mimzi's most hated feeling was being looked upon weakly by others; she felt weak as the Listener.

During Mimzi's campaign to kill the Emperor, she was sent by Astrid to kill Cicero, who had escaped to the Dawnstar sanctuary after an assault on the assassins. Mimzi ofcourse wasn't there to stop him, and even if she was, Cicero would have begged her to join him. She was defiantly not going to kill Cicero, not until she got the story straight of why he did it. When she fought her way through the collection of battles in the abandoned sanctuary that Cicero had planned she finally made her way to him, and he was injured badly.

"…I have no fight in me left." he gasped, clutching to his wound. Mimzi didn't even unsheathe her blade, she was never a fan of Astrid and would be dead to follow out her commands to kill Mimzi's only friend. Instead Mimzi ran over to him, and helped him; gave him a healing potion and laid him down. Helping the deranged man in an act of kindness Mimzi believed would allow him to understand "compassion" to a greater extent. Cicero, however, would need far more than just a healing of his wounds to understand compassion. He was friends with Mimzi, which was all he knew. Cicero wasn't sure about love; he mainly cared for Mimzi just for the Night Mother's sake. But there was a playful, fun, and admirable respect he had for her that no one else did, like a puppy who knew who his owner was, and would run to them on sight. Mimzi was the only person Cicero knew in the sanctuary and one of the only (alive) friends he had gained in years. She was a nice relief.

After the burning of the Falkreath sanctuary was committed, and everyone besides Mimzi, Nazir, Babette and Cicero still remained alive, Mimzi continued her path as the "Listener" to kill the Emperor. Mimzi had no clouded mind on this what-so-ever. She was also a Stormcloak and a Talos worshipper. The Emperor was at fault for everything in her mind, and saw enacting his death would give Skyrim a lot of freedom, nonetheless leaving the Thalmor clueless on what step to take next. Until she sneaked her way into his ship and confronted him. Mimzi learned the man was far more different than she anticipated, and killing him was not such a wise choice in the first place. Yet oddly he was consisting and saying his death was inevitable either way… so Mimzi killed the Emperor of Tamriel. This marked the end of Mimzi's quest in the Dark Brotherhood, and her involvement. She could not take in the guilt of killing people any longer, and the money she now had would suffice for years. Mimzi rejected becoming the leader of the sanctuary, and gave that position to Nazir who was more than willing to accept. And despite her role as "Listener", not even the Night Mother seemed to mind of Mimzi's leave, for Mimzi's mind remained clean of voices. It was certain her only influence on the faction would be with Cicero, who she still liked to accompany with and spend time with. Another road was calling Mimzi.

The young Nord's destiny was finally calling back to her creation, and where she came from. Mimzi was 9 years old when she admitted to never wanting to meet her parents. These were words she still lived by, yet somehow Ulfric and Astrid would be called back to her. Mimzi was destined to meet her father, who strangely enough… she was going to hold another meeting with as she journeyed back to the Palace of Kings with the rest of some comrades. Mimzi was by far one of Ulfric Stormcloaks most successful and strongest soldiers. Neither of them knew of each other's relation until the last letter from Astrid was delivered to the Palace earlier on the same day. Ulfric read it alone in his map room. It told of Astrid's last minutes in her sanctuary, and how she finally discovered her daughter after 19 years of trying to forget her. Tragically the leader of the assassins died in the burning of the sanctuary… Ulfric was all that remained of Mimzi's family.

Even now as a 19 year old girl, Mimzi didn't ever want to meet her birth parents, because in her own selfish way she blamed them for the death of Shavir and Kali, her _real_ parents. It was her birth parents that left the amulet in her baby basket and (she thought) left her in the desert to die, and if they hadn't have given it to her she would still be in Elsweyr with her mama and papa. Yet she had some to thank for the amulet; her worship of Talos, which was one of the only things Mimzi took seriously. But now that Ulfric knew Mimzi was his daughter, he needed a confrontation. If he let Mimzi walk the halls of his castle without telling her the truth, it would drive him mad. Ulfric was left in his war room alone, his pain and amazement at the discovery of Mimzi's existence and Astrid's death consuming him.

"Sir!" hollered a guard, disturbing his peace. "Ralof and his men are back, the mission was a success!" As soon as the guard saw his Jarl troubled and broken, he cowered out of the map room immediately. Once again the doors of the Palace of Kings were heard as they clanked shut. The shuffling of the soldiers coming in was everywhere as they laughed.  
"Where's Jarl Ulfric? We need to speak to him." laughed Mimzi, her voice the only female tone among the grumbles of men. Ulfric took a deep breath at the sound of her voice. He crushed the letter in his palm. Now was the moment… he was to introduce himself to his daughter. Mimzi, Ralof and a few other comrades came into the map room with a few Imperial helmets as prizes. Ralof set them on the table and proudly informed,

"Another success, Ulfric! With progress like this we'll have command over Skyrim before you kno-"

"Yes and great news to help me with. I knew I could count on all of you…" Ulfric praised weakly in a husked tone. His eyes were red-rimmed and red-veined. Ulfric looked like sleep was beyond him. Ralof immediately saw his lord's distress and his smile of pride turned to a frown of concern. Ulfric continued, "Can you all let me have a few words with our soldier here" as he pointed to Mimzi, "All the rest of you feel free to help yourself to the food and ale of the palace." Ralof and the soldiers quickly made their way to the kitchen ready to gorge, whilst Mimzi and Ulfric remained alone in the map room.

Mimzi knew she was highly respected by Ulfric and the others for her prevail in battle. Whatever Ulfric had to speak to her about must have been to offer his congratulatory words. Instead Ulfric was afflicted by something; Mimzi could read it all over his face. They shared no words for a couple of seconds and Mimzi was growing impatient, scared even.

"… Umm?" she muttered, "My Jarl?" Mimzi's voice to Ulfric was terrifying; now that he finally knew the truth of the girl it was odd to see her now. Everything about Mimzi in the slightest was Astrid. Her demeanor matched her mother's variously. It was the eyes of Mimzi that shook Ulfric the most. They were so familiar, the blue belonged to neither Ulfric nor Astrid. They belonged to his father, the Great Bear of Eastmarch. Ulfric remembered looking at them when his father was still alive. They were royal, stern, and hypnotizing dark blue eyes, as blue as magic or as blue as the night sky. Mimzi's blue eyes grew fearful with every second Ulfric didn't respond. She wasn't sure if she was in trouble or if something happened, but she had her sword on the ready if Ulfric tried anything funny. Ulfric than spotted the Talos Amulet around Mimzi's neck. It dangled on her Stormcloak armor; it was the same one he took with him 20 years ago on the journey with Astrid. That was all the proof he needed that Mimzi was his daughter. Looking at it now was like a slap to the face.

"I… can't believe it." he exhaled, rubbing his face incase tears decided to fall.

"What do you mean?" Mimzi asked. She stepped closer to Ulfric, unsure why this strong, honorable man was on the brink of sadness. "What's happening?"

"I feel so guilty for everything, and looking at you now is one of the most painful things I have ever done. I just feel guilty for telling you this… but if I don't I'm afraid I'll go mad with obsession if I let you leave." Ulfric stepped closer to his oblivious daughter, who backed up in turn grabbing the handle of her sword ready to unsheathe it. "There is no need for the sword; I'm not going to hurt you. Please, trust me." Mimzi wasn't sure what he was saying was truth. Ulfric was acting so strange towards her it was almost threatening, especially since Ulfric is one of the most emotionless men she knew. Though she yielded, and took her hand off the handle to listen to what Ulfric had to say. Her face was also emotionless at this moment; she was wide eyed and focused on the Jarl.

"What is it?" she mumbled. Her voice was quiet and startled, this made Ulfric anxious, but simply looking at her made him want to tell her. "Is this about the war?"

"No, it's not about the war. It's about you. Mimzi… where did you get that amulet?" he questioned pointing at her amulet. She gripped her hand around her Talos Amulet at this.

"Well I didn't steal it if that's what you're asking."

"I know you didn't, but just… humor me."  
Mimzi sighed, then looked back down at her only memorable object of her youth, the object that led her to this day, "I wasn't raised by Nords, I was raised by Khajiits. They found this in my basket when I was a baby."

"Khajiits?" Ulfric gasped in disbelief.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Mimzi muttered rudely, as if Ulfric touched a nerve. Ulfric shook his head instantly,

"No! No, it's not. I could care less… you're hear and that's all that matters, but you never knew who your birth parents were, am I right?"

"I didn't really care; I'm not here because of them. My whole life I wondered, sure, but now that I'm older it just kind of drifted away. Sorry if that's no-"

"I'm your father." Ulfric croaked, his eyes wetting. Mimzi just stood there at the very thing being said from Ulfric Stormcloak. Her face was disturbed and confused. At first she didn't believe a word of it, until possibilities started flooding in her head. She started dismissing them,

"No you're not… why…" Ulfric then handed her the letter Astrid had written. Mimzi snatched it from his hand and aggressively unfolded it to read the messy writing. Mimzi read through it slowly and her face grew from confused to convulsed. A tear fell onto the paper but she never shed one emotion of sadness; just pure anger. "No…this is _NOT_ true, you are… how is that even…?" she stuttered incoherently.

"The woman who wrote that letter was your mother, her name was Astrid."

"**I know what her name was!**" howled Mimzi. Her voice echoed through the halls and it cracked from inevitable tears. Her teeth were clenched and she ripped the letter to shreds and threw it on the ground. Ulfric flinched at his daughter doing this, but decided to not interrupt her for her sake.

"I'm… I'm so sorry." Ulfric reached his hand out to her and Mimzi slapped it away in an instant. She breathed heavily as she began to scream at Ulfric with her eyes red and full of tears.

"You left me in that desert… both of you! I was a baby and you left me to die, how could you live with that?"

"What…?"

"You…" Mimzi wiped away the tears and breathed like she couldn't continue talking due to such emotions, "You know exactly what I'm talking about. What was it? The war started so you didn't want to have the latch on your belt of keeping care of a kid? Were you too weak? Do you have _any_ idea what I have been through because of you… and that bitch!"

"I had no idea what Astrid did to you! I didn't even know you were my child till now! I know nothing of a desert; I wasn't the one who gave you away!" Ulfric yelled in turn, but realizing this wouldn't solve anything he lowered his voice. "If I knew you of you when you were born, if Astrid had told me I would have been there for you. I would have been the parent you deserve."

"You are **NOT** the parent I deserve! The parents I deserve are dead because of this!" Mimzi then ripped the amulet off her neck and carelessly threw it at Ulfric. He caught it in his hand and his dormant tears came surely now that it was clear the only family he had left didn't love him. Desperate, Ulfric walked to Mimzi to reason with her.

"Just stay away from me!" she shrieked. Her voice scratched her lungs as tears drenched her cheeks. Mimzi quickly ran out of the map room and out of the castle, anywhere to get away from Ulfric and the terrifying truth. Once again, Ulfric was alone.

One of Ulfric's greatest regrets was telling Mimzi the truth. He fell to his knees and clutched the Talos Amulet tighter in his palm. He didn't want the necklace to be his only reminder of Mimzi, and more than anything he wondered why Astrid never told him of Mimzi in the first place. Ulfric's rough hands held his face. His depression continued as he breathed into his palm, he had truly lost everything. Mimzi coming to him like a glimmer of hope in this war, than her disappearing was worse than never knowing her at all. The life of the Jarl was a cruel one that seemed to keep lashing on him with every decade. No matter how much he wanted a family, he didn't have the luxury. Now that Mimzi was gone the war seemed it would be endless, and his life shorter.

That night Ulfric spent his whole time in the map room just sitting on the bench. He stared at the ground without moving but just studying the silence. The ripped note was scattered in pieces all over the ground, and the amulet in his hand swaying. Now that Astrid was dead he felt more alone than ever. When he knew she was alive he felt comforted but it all seemed clear that was an illusion preparing him for worse pain. Ulfric was adept to the pain that he didn't even shed a tear in this silence. He just thought about what gods were doing this to him. He truly did want to retire from the world.

Ulfric was stronger now in these moments. If Ulfric was to die he would die on the battlefield for Skyrim. If he was to be alone he would do so protecting his homeland. And if he was to be a King he would make sure his subjects had a reason to address him as such. Mimzi was gone now, and there was nothing that could change this. This didn't trouble Ulfric, however, not even then, because like always he knew he would get passed it and learn to be strong. He would learn to be a _Great Bear_, even if it meant his heart turning to stone in the process.

Galmar soon discovered of his commander's offspring by Ulfric in that night. Instead of shock, Galmar displayed much grief. Knowing his Jarl's sadness and the soldier they lost.

"Ulfric… I'm sorry."

"Don't be." adjusted Ulfric to Galmar. "I was a fool to tell her anyway."

"She had a lot of promise. If Mimzi quit, well… stuff might start looking dreary again. Ralof is going to be disappointed most of all." Galmar sighed, tapping his fingers on the map table.

"He'll get over it. If Ralof loved the girl he'd learn to." Galmar nodded and at the sight of Ulfric's face which looked exhausted he could see he needed to be alone. On Galmar's way out of the room he turned to Ulfric again, who was fixed on his map table.

"Jarl Ulfric… your daughter." he muttered.

"Yes Galmar, what about her?"

"She had your father's eyes." Galmar realized, the words almost a whisper from his husky tone. Ulfric didn't feel right enough to smile, yet somehow he did. It was smirk if anything.

"Yes." he murmured. "Yes, she did."


End file.
